ANGELS MESSAGES, 



THROUGH 



Mrs. ELLEN E. WARD, 

AS A MEDIUM. 






NASHVILLE, TENN. : 

WHEELER, MARSHALL & BRUCE, PRINTERS. 
1875- 



• V1/&7 



Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1 8 75, by 

HENRY SHEFFIELD, M. D„ 
in the office of Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. 



■j5 



-p'fdf 



EXPLANATION. 



These messages from the spirit world were given 
through Mrs. Ellen E. Ward, as a Medium. 

At each sitting she went into a trance, at which time 
her own individuality was completely lost, and she be- 
came a passive instrument moved by the will of 
another. By some other mind was she controled, with 
more or less ease and certainty of expression, accord- 
ing to the knowledge and power of that mind, and to 
the susceptible condition of her own body and brain, as 
well as the surrounding elements. 

Let me illustrate : The telegraphic instrument is a 
useless medium of communication unless manipulated 
by one who is educated to control it. It is also useless 
to him who has that knowledge if he has not the 
necessary electrical power. It is even useless if he has 
both the knowledge and the power if the circuit is not 
complete, or if another expert is not at an instrument 
at the terminus of the line to receive his message. 
Hence, to send a telegram and have it received, all of 
the laws and conditions that govern the power, the line 
and the instrument must be obeyed. So with spirit 
messages. All of the laws governing this phenomena 
must be strictly observed, or no messages can be sent 



4 EXPLANATION. 

or received. Those who seek not spirit messages, and 
do not place themselves in the proper relations, will 
never receive them. Every sentence recorded in these 
messages was spoken by Mrs. Ward when in trance, 
and written at the time by me, her amanuensis. 

They are given verbatim, with all their imperfec- 
tions, and have not been submitted to any scholar for 
correction. They were given to me by my family and 
friends, and their united influence, to educate, improve 
and comfort me. 

I have omitted family matters (by which each indi- 
vidual has most certainly identified themselves) when 
the message Was not connected with some subject of 
general interest, or descriptive of their acts, condition, 
home and surroundings. They are from many differ- 
ent spirits, of diversified minds and intelligence, and 
on a variety of subjects. They proclaim "there is but one 
God, who is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, 
and who can not be defined nor confined." " There is no 
mediator between God and his own children." Every one 
of them is himself responsible for every thought and 
act of his life, and must alone suffer for his own wrong 
doing. Man can not have any higher state of rest and 
happiness than his capacity has been developed to 
enjoy. If man has been a slave to his propensities, if 
he has developed only his baser qualities, if he has 
disobeyed the teachings of his own sense of right and 
the law of God, he will go into the spirit world with 
all- those impulses, tastes and feelings unchanged. In 
the spirit world his sin-stained soul will seek its own 
level, and will commingle with its own base kind. 
Neither professions, nor assumptions, nor atonement of 
Jesus will avail him there, as he will surely meet full 



EXPLANATION. 5 

justice for his own acts. The passage from the terres- 
trial to the celestial sphere requires but a moment, as 
our consciousness is never lost. "There is no curse 
but ignorance. " " There is no mystery but ignorance." 
Spirits of the nineteenth century attack ignorance, 
superstition and falsehood in all their strongholds. 
They would take them all away from man, and leave 
only the simple element of truth, without alloy. " Man 
wants intelligence; he wants information; he wants 
honesty ; he wants truth and sincerity, and that is 
what spirits are capable of teaching." " Progression 
is the law, and not retrogression." In the spirit world 
man is instructed and improved, gradually ascending 
toward perfection. Man, who is vile in the form to- 
day, would be the same in the spirit world to-morrow 
was he to make the change, and if he had the oppor- 
tunity and power to send back messages, they would be 
vile like himself. Therefore, from the best, purest and 
most intelligent spirits we get information and mes- 
sages of love, and hope and trust. 

"There is but one religion." Religion means ven- 
eration, purity, integrity, love to God and to our fel- 
low man. This feeling is closely allied to every hu- 
man heart, and if obeyed, would prevent man from 
crime, corruption and dishonesty. Religion is not a 
dogma ; it is not a church ; it is not a sacrament ; it 
belongs to no sect or people, or age ; it is a principle. 
It is developed by the constant practice of high and 
noble impulses. The people of this country, must of 
necessity, learn the truth, and the sooner it is done the 
better for them. If these messages from the spirit 
world can teach mankind to do good and learn the 
right, they will then accomplish their object. If they 



6 EXPLANATION. 

can induce mankind to seek this knowledge of immor- 
tality, they will find that it will take away from them 
the sting of death and the terror of the grave. 

AMANUENSIS. 



Orders, criticisms and reviews must be addressed to 
me to receive notice. 

HENKY SHEFFIELD, M. D., 

Proprietor "Angels Messages ," Nashville, Tenn. 



TRIP TO A PLANET. 

June 8th, 1871.— S. 

The soul unfolds science. We see an effect and 
know there is a cause, and when the mind is developed 
we learn that cause. What is sound ? 'T is an effect, 
produced by two bodies coming together, combined with 
the elements of the atmosphere. This Medium is too 
sensitive, but we will try and control her to give you 
something. We know you are of an inquiring mind, 
and we intend to give you something to build upon. 
A friend of mine, since I came here, has been with me 
to visit two other planets. 

The Medium does not understand the language of 
them, but we hope yet to gratify you about that. 

I visited a planet inhabited by a race very superior 
to ours, and much further advanced in civilization. 
They never had any war there. They have no legisla- 
tion, and require no prisons. They live principally 
upon vegetable food, eat but little meat, although their 
animals are more refined than ours. It is less labor for 
them to breathe, as they do not heave the chest as we 
do. They are taller, with a better proportioned body. 
They have sickness and death. Physicians use vege- 
table medicines altogether — was in a very large es- 
tablishment where they were manufacturing them. 
Have much less machinery of all kinds than we do. 



8 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

There is no hurry and confusion in their business 
houses. 

They labor only three or four hours in twenty-four. 
They have printed books, but greatly superior to ours, 
and in their printing offices no dirt and confusion. 
Their domestics are clean and orderly, and attend to 
their work more from pleasure than necessity. They 
have no disputes nor quarrels, and have no desire to 
cheat or wrong one another. They have no written 
contracts. Their currency is gold, the largest piece 
about the size of our dollar, but of much greater value, 
owing to its scarcity. The climate is balmy and de- 
lightful. They have no hurricanes nor tornadoes. No 
large water courses, no serpents, no poisonous insects, 
but every thing subservient to the highest interests of 
the inhabitants. The whole planet looks like a well- 
kept flower garden. 

Their flowers are rich in color and variety. They 
have no ships there, (a poor place then for you as a 
ship-builder ?) Yes, if I had to toil at that for a living 
there. There is nothing to worry the mind. 

The children need no toys. They have a domestic 
animal resembling our horse. The weather is so warm 
they need but little fire, as they cook but a small 
quantity of food. The water is as clear as crystal. 
The scenery is not rugged, as they have no mountains 
nor marshes. The rivers are small, but the scenery is 
beautiful. In the usages of their society, their mar- 
riages is the most beautiful. The parties come together 
in harmony, and upon their bended knees take upon 
themselves their vows in the presence of their fathers 
and mothers. They have no priests nor preachers, 
and no such book as our Bible. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 9 

They do not try to deceive one another, but act what 
they are, thus having perfect harmony between them- 
selves. 

Have no poverty or dissipation. Their lives are 
longer than ours, and they have more pleasure, because 
they understand more fully the laws of creation. The 
women bear children, but do not have as much pain, 
and nevermore than four, both male and female. Their 
land is never bought and sold for speculation. Have 
no deeds and transfers, and no complaints about boun- 
daries. A man builds as he pleases ; gives it to whom 
he pleases, and no one else claims it. It requires much 
less land for them, and they would not know what to 
do with as much as we have. (You did not wish to 
remain there ?) No, I visited the planet to see some- 
thing beyond our own, and with my friend hope to 
visit more in time. 

(How did you get there ?) Without any effort, as 
the Medium raised her hand, without an effort of her 
own. 

There is an inherent power given to us, so that we 
can go as we will. Steam propels the engine. This 
is tangible to you. Everything must have a power. 

You see leaf after leaf of the plant expand. That is 
the inherent power of the plant, so all beings have an 
inherent power. In the old Mosaic times, if man 
heard it thunder, he thought it was God. Solomon 
says, that is the beginning of wisdom when we try to 
account for everything we see. A child will do this. 

The mind is active, and will act independent of the 

will. You can not stay your thoughts, they grow 

within you. At night, if you go out, and look at the 

heavens, star after star appears, and so with our 

1* 



10 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

thoughts. I have never seen anything that was not 
for use. There is no such thing as accident in God's 
creation. There is the most perfect harmony in all his 
laws. One poet has said, " only man is vile." We 
want this spiritual light dispensed. People try hard 
to get happiness. 

Pleasure is a reality ; trouble is only a fancy — there 
is no such thing as real trouble. Mankind must get 
out of the notion that God does certain things for a 
special purpose ; that he afflicts them because they are 
sinful, and think all their sorrows are God's will. They 
then misapply their own acts and duties. If a child 
sickens, and dies from severe disease, a poor physician 
or a bad nurse, the orthodox teacher says, the child was 
loved too well, and that was sinful, and so God took 
the child away to punish them. It was only a natural 
law. The mother becomes unhappy, because she can 
hold communion w T ith it no longer. 

That child is nourished, not as an animal with solid 
food, but with spiritual food, such as the spiritual body 
needs. You can not create medicines, you must have 
something to make them out of. The whole natural 
body is a chemical apparatus, converting both animal 
and vegetable food into blood, which makes brains. 
This food has to be renewed daily. 

Man must have fresh food, water and air, else the 
brain will cease to act. As you put wood on the fire 
to keep it burning, so you give man food, water and 
air to keep him living. The body goes to decay, the 
spirit still lives and is nourished, not that the spirit has 
teeth, and is nourished with natural food like the body, 
according to Swedenborg, but with spiritual food. The 
child needs more proportionately than an adult. We 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 11 

see many things'here we never saw before, and do not 
know their uses, nor can we describe or explain them. 
A child born at full term is developed here. (Do 
children grow out of our remembrance ?) No, the spirit 
can assume its former appearance so that you can re- 
cognize it. 



12 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



OUK FAMILY. 

June, 1871.— A 

God bless you ! It is so seldom I can get this privi- 
lege, am so glad to have you here. Your wife is much 
better, and it is such a great blessing. It now seems 
by your attention she may get well again. 

It is natural that the family should be scattered, and 
we must make up our minds to that. The old ones 
must pass away. When you left home, your father 
and I was both there. It seems hard when I look back 
to that time, when you were all together, and so happy, 
while now you are so scattered, one here and another 
yonder. 

Your father is getting along finely, and is as w T ell 
satisfied as he can be. We are together here as we 
were on earth, and feel as if we could not do without 
one another ; that we could not be separated. Oh ! 
there is such great wisdom in Divine Providence. 
When he left me I felt that my staff and stay was 
gone, but it was not long before I followed him— time 
is not long in eternity. We are in complete harmony 
now', with nothing to mar our happiness. 

? Tis true, we feel sad if our children do not get 
along well, for we have the same, even more interest in 
them now, and a greater desire for their happiness. 
The spirit has love and sympathy, and all of ourfacul- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 13 

ties are increased in our spirit home. There are a great 
many in this circle or association, and we meet fre- 
quently and have communications. Some people crave 
the things of earth so much that they are carried back 
there. These do not then progress ; in fact they do not 
advance sometimes for years, and they never can come 
in harmony with the higher spheres as long as they 
have these earthly desires. (Does happiness depend 
upon associations ?) Yes ! oh, yes, and upon ourselves. 
There can be no affinity between the refined and the 
vulgar mind. The vicious and the vulgar have their 
own abode, and they are miserable that they can not 
gratify their base propensities. 

I do not know enough about them and their condi- 
tion to say how much they can annoy one another, but 
they can not tease or annoy any one of a higher sphere 
or association. You know that on earth depraved 
people can annoy those above them, but here they can 
not. Yes, I remember our last meeting on earth, for 
I cried bitterly when you had left. I felt that I had 
seen you for the last time. Then I did not know of 
this great power and privilege which is spreading itself 
over the earth like the sunlight. Memory brings us 
pleasure, and brings us sadness. We go back and live 
over the past either in sorrow or gladness. Memory 
turns our life page by page, recalling events both sad 
and joyful. But what would life be without memory ? 
I would take all of life's sorrows for its enjoyments and 
pleasures. May you always have this privilege of 
communion. Though we are absent in the flesh, we 
are present in the spirit. 

November 8, 1872. — A. Your father has been gone 
three months. He has gone a long journey, at a great 



14 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

distance, but will return in two weeks. He is fond of 
traveling, and enjoys it very much. (So do I?) Yes, 
and when you come here you will be gone most of the 
time. You will want to go with him, and I shall not 
have much of your society. I do not know the name 
of the place where he has gone, but he will tell you on 
his return. (How do you enjoy yourself during his 
absence ?) I enjoy myself very well with my family. 
I find a great deal to do to help the poor along, and to 
relieve the distressed in spirit. I have constant occu- 
pation. I see a dark cloud over your head. You are 
going to have great trouble. I love to come and see 
you, and tell you how much I am yet interested in you. 
(I was your favorite ?) No one can measure my love 
for you. Am glad you realize my devotion to you, 
and always pleased to see you prosper. I have not 
been disappointed in you, although I had much ambi- 
tion for you. I have been so anxious to come and tell 
you all I feel. Before I come I think I can say a great 
deal, but when I get here, can say but little. Your 
life looks brighter in the future than in the past. (Can 
not imagine how, for I have had every wish.) That is 
one of the blessings of a contented mind. Some people 
are never satisfied with what they have, while you ac- 
cept everything and apply it. M. (poor child !) she 
was left when very small, almost an infant. I learn 
that her early life has not been the brightest. Tell 
her she must rise above her earthly condition until it 
is time for her to leave earth, when we shall be there, 
and she shall not want for friends. I have met many 
of her friends, and they constantly hover around the 
house. They are so anxious for her to realize spirit 
life, to understand everything perfectly, that she may 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 15 

not be shocked at the change when she finds the end 
approaching. 

January 22, 1873. — A. It is not dark here. This 
life is very bright. It is not shut up ; is not walled 
in. I have got many children, and love them all. 
Nothing affords me more pleasure than when I can 
communicate with them. It makes me very sad when 
I am so near to them and they will not come to listen 
to me. Religion should not close up our souls, but it 
should teach us charity, patience and forbearance. My 
church never gave me full consolation in earth's life 
in regard to the condition of the soul. I felt as if 
something was hung between that life and this. When 
I laid your father in his grave, oh ! how many nights 
I spent in prayer and tears that I might know his true 
spiritual condition. I remember how calmly he went, 
and said : " Wife, I have no fears for the future." 
It had seemed to me his ideas were different from those 
which the world called Christian, and so I had my 
doubts. When I came here, the first bright face that- 
beamed upon me was his, and then I knew that all was 
well. We still have a great interest in our children, 
and would gladly relieve them of any doubts about our 
true spiritual condition when we leave' earth. Be 
careful of the little babies ; they are very tender. 
When I see them, I think of my early marriage. I 
had two or three around me at one time. No one 
knows a mother's care but herself, and the many sleep- 
less nights she has over her babies. My son, I am 
glad to see you are so kind to them when they come 
here, as your house has always been so peaceful and 
quiet without them. It is one of the greatest virtues 



16 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

of the human mind to be patient with children and 
bear with their faults. I remember this anniversary 
of your birth ; every year when it comes round, and 
your father, and I always speak of it, and this is why 
we wanted to come here to-day, that we might cele- 
brate it. I hope to have a long communication with 
my daughter, now present. She shall not regret it, 
and she shall yet fully realize that I can come to her 
and comfort her in her darkest hour. Trouble comes 
to all those who are rich and those who are poor ; those 
who are prosperous and those who are not. 

January 22, 1873. — S. It is extraordinary that my 
daughter can not come into this room from the next 
one. What is she afraid of? Is she afraid her religion 
can be tainted by contact with us ? She must have 
but little confidence in the strength of her church if 
it can not stand such a test as this. You must not bind 
the mind,' nor tie it too close to a post. Man is a pro- 
gressive being, and you must believe it. If this planet 
was to continue to roll on as long as it has done, and 
not improve, it would be a bad place. In everything 
there is continual progression. (Do old and decrepid 
people become restored ?) Yes, when the spirit first 
comes here it retains awhile the form of its shell. It 
progresses gradually until it attains its perfect form. 
If a patient continue to take the proper remedies ac- 
cording to directions, they improve gradually ; but if 
they take them only for a day, and are constantly 
changing, they will not be benefitted. So, when they 
come here they have every aid to assist them to im- 
prove, and it depends- on themselves how much and 
how fast they will progress. There are no high and 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 17 

low seats here, but each one goes to his own sphere. 
The highest intellect can not harmonize with the low- 
est. All have opportunities for improvement, but 
some fail to employ them ; they are too lazy. De- 
bauchery prevents the faculties from becoming devel- 
oped. Children continue to improve here until they 
become perfect in mind and body. It would be sad 
indeed if they were always to remain puny infants ; it 
were better to have no immortality. We often recall 
events and things here that have been unthought for 
years. (Sister writes, " Spiritualism is the work of the 
devil ? ") Tell her you accept his presence then with 
joy. Ask her to give you a description of his Satanic 
Majesty. 

I have made a long journey on earth, and it has been 
many years since I came here, and as I before told you, 
have visited other planets, and I have never yet been 
able to s-ee him or recognize his majesty. The church 
only seems to know him, and so he must be close un- 
der their pews. The devil's stipendiary, keeps up the 
ministry. No man is a true Christian until he can give 
to another a true idea of his Christianity. Every man 
must be his own judge how near he himself is to 
Christ. The religion of Christ is one thing, and the 
religion of the church is another. The religion of 
Christ gives to every human being their just rights. 
"When a man joins a church because it is popular, his 
religion is not worth much — it is below par. Man is a 
religious, being by nature ; there is a divinity within 
him. When he is sick and suffering he prays, and 
when he says, "Lord, have mercy on me," it has as 
much effect as the longest prayer' in Christendom. I 
do not wish to criticise the churches too severely, but 



18 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

sometimes I feel quite stringent toward them. When 
I see millions of our race who do not belong to any 
church, and who are humane and benevolent, while 
those of the church hug their Bibles, pay their priests, 
say long prayers, give fairs and concerts to adorn their 
church, and make nice pews, and do not think of the 
poor, the first are the true Christians, and not the last. 
Their preachers tell them if they give liberally to the 
church, and help support the ministry, they are thus 
" lending to the Lord," and, therefore, they will be 
sure to go to heaven. I will say here, if they put their 
trust in that, they will find their heaven as cold as their 
church would be without a furnace to warm it, and as 
dark as that church would be without the gas that 
glistens in its bright chandelier. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 19 



VISIT TO TWO PLANETS. 

January 24, 1873.— & 

I have been to three planets. Each one had a dis- 
tinct race, and differing from one another. Had mostly 
white skins, walked erect, were all of the same phys- 
ical shape — very much like the inhabitants of our 
planet. Their features are more regular, and not 
much contrast in size. On the first planet they were 
small in stature — about four feet high. On the second, 
about five feet high, and of uniform size and shape. 
On the third they were large, six feet high, with large 
limbs and muscles. Language quite different from 
ours, but are highly educated. Eat no animal food ; 
subsist entirely on vegetables. The day and night is 
of equal length. As this last-named planet was the 
most interesting to me, will speak first of it. They 
have a better system of astronomy than we do, and 
understand it more perfectly. This planet has large 
water-courses, and a great deal of commerce. They 
have no religion such as Christians call religion, but a 
high order of morals. They know nothing of the im- 
mortality of the soul. They have no wars, no courts 
nor prison houses, and murder is unheard of. They 
have no kings, no politics, no religion, consequently no 
wars. They live in perfect harmony. The women 
have very little or no pain at childbirth. The families 



20 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

are large, with eight and ten children. They are con- 
tented and happy. They have better painters, better 
coloring in both landscape and portraits. Their archi- 
tecture is in perfection. Their buildings are the most 
beautiful I ever beheld. The climate is genial the 
year round, never too hot, and never necessary to have 
a fire to keep warm, with but little variation in the 
temperature. 

They have rain from the clouds. The planet is 
lighted by a sun. The soil is so perfect that it does 
not generate heat and gasses like ours. The people 
live to a great age — from three to four hundred years — 
and are strong and robust. Physicians use vegetable 
medicines entirely. They have but few species of ani- 
mals, and but few in number. Have a great number 
and variety of fowls. Have no insects, no worms, no 
bugs. The atmosphere so clear you can see for miles. 
They have minerals of various kinds, and a great many 
precious stones. The mountain scenery is sublime. 
Have snow on the mountains in northern latitudes, but 
not in the valleys. Never have high winds nor torna- 
does. Forests not as dense as ours, but the trees are 
much larger and taller. There is but little small 
timber; saw but three species of timber — one 
kind very large, ten feet in diameter when 
grown. One an evergreen, but nothing like our pine 
or spruce, but more like the arbor vitee. The color of 
the wood like our yellow poplar. Two of the species 
shed their foliage every year, corresponding with our 
autumn. These trees bear a small nut ; the leaves 
very large, and the wood almost as hard as a rock. 
When they build ships of it, they last for centuries, 
without rotting ; owing to its close fibrous condition 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 21 

the water can not soak into it. Fruits are exceedingly- 
fine. One kind resembles our apple. None like our 
peach. They have a great many berries, one kind, a 
large yellow berry, as large as an egg, but without 
seeds, like our strawberry, that is exceedingly delicious. 
They have a solar system, which they understand bet- 
ter than we do ours. They have no oceans, but the 
planet is belted with large, beautiful rivers. They 
have no ice. Our zones are covered with ice to keep 
our orbit in its equilibrium, but their planet holds its 
equilibrium without it. This planet is due east of 
ours. They have books, and read them. They come 
together in social gatherings, and are very much at- 
tached to one another. They have perfect harmony. 
Never saw one family or neighbor quarreling with 
another. They all have light hair and blue eyes. All 
their months have an equal number of days, about fifty 
of ours. They are a very busy people. Have a great 
deal of commerce, a great deal of machinery, but no 
steam. Get their power from hot air, without fire. 
By separating the elements of the air they get their 
motive power. Their chemists are the greatest which 
exist in any world, and their art is most perfect. They 
are great uranologists, great economists. Everything 
is of use to them. They never destroy anything. (I 
do not understand about their motive power.) I will 
take you there and you shall see for yourself. I was 
astonished at it. There is no friction on any of their 
machinery. If I understood their machinery, and 
could convey an idea of it to you, you could make a 
fortune directly, but I do not understand it myself. 
They have large brains ; are all very broad across the 
temples. The men and women both have the finest 



22 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

heads I ever saw. A little boy there of ten years old 
can manage a machine that a man of fifty here could 
not. Everything is in perfect harmony, with no con- 
fusion. They are a bold, independent, honest people. 
They use no drink but water ; have no liquors, or any- 
thing that stimulates the nervous system. Know 
nothing about whisky. Have no such terrible indiges- 
tion. Can never see a beggar, nor hear of poverty, 
and none have extreme wealth. They have no wars 
to destroy one another, no priests to extort tithes and 
the fleece of the flock. I shall take you to see this 
beautiful planet, and also the one I visited some time 
since, about which I told you. Our people talk about 
science and art, but ours is nothing in comparison to 
the perfection of that people. 

I have been to five different planets, one of which 
was inhabited by barbarians. Will now speak of 
another and different planet I have visited. There 
the people are nearer our size ; are more of an olive 
color than the native Americans. Have black eyes 
and dark hair, but little muscles, and are rather effem- 
inate in strength. They are not an intellectual race, 
have no religion, but worship what our aborigines 
call the " Great Spirit." They have temples where 
they meet three times a week, to worship, where they 
have their priests. They are affectionate one towards 
another. Have a Governor. They live entirely on 
fish and game, and use but few vegetables, and those 
raw. Have very little clothing, are simple in their 
manners, and their language is very limited, scarcely 
enough to express their own ideas. They have no 
books, and perpetuate their history by handing it down 
to one another. Have no wagons or vehicles ; pack 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 23 

everything on their animals, which are very small, 
with small limbs, something like our horse. They 
have an abundance of fruit that grows wild, on which 
they live. Their architecture surpasses the people, and 
you could not expect it from such a people. Most of 
their time is spent in worshipping their Great Spirit. 
They have correct ideas of the immortality of the soul, 
but incorrect as to how they are to obtain peace here- 
after. They pray a great deal, and think it necessary 
they should humiliate themselves. The women are 
very beautiful, and never have many children. The 
men have no beard. They have no shipping, but small 
boats without any deck, and move them by long pad- 
dles. They have no steam to propel them, nor any 
machinery to do it. The days and nights are equally 
divided, about six hours each. They have but little 
variation in the climate, which is warm and genial. It 
never snows, they have no ice, and know nothing about 
it. They eat but one meal a day, about the middle, 
and only fruits after that. Never travel from one part 
of the planet to another. A family pushes out but a 
little way from the old homestead, and never think of 
making a long journey. They bury their dead simi- 
larly to what we do, but always pick a place upon the 
bank of a stream for that purpose. 

Their departed spirits cling close around their own 
planet, and hold communion with them in the form. 
They have no money, and use nothing for money ; 
have no banks ; know nothing about banking ; always 
barter for what they need. 

If one gives another his word, he asks for nothing 
more. They do not deceive one another ; seem to 
have no knowledge of deception. They say they can 



24 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

hide nothing from the Great Spirit, and what they can 
not hide from him it is no use to hide from one another. 
They have great reverence for the opinion of their 
Great Spirit. The men never have but one wife. If 
she dies, they never marry again. Marriage with 
them is considered very sacred. They mourn more 
sincerely for their dead than any people I have ever 
seen. They have but little sickness, and no deformity. 
I will tell you of the other planets when I come again. 
It is a great deal of pleasure to go around in this 
spirit life and visit places we speculated about in earth's 
life. Men have invented telescopes and tried to read 
the stars, to unfold nature that is so sublimely wrapped 
in her mystery. We are all school boys on earth, and 
keep trying to learn. AH our learning will be a bene- 
fit to us in our progressive life. Immortality is not 
merely a continuance of life, but a constant develop- 
ment of mind, a constant unfolding of the intellectual 
faculties reaching out after the infinite. I hear so 
many sensible men ask what good will it do a man to 
know about spiritualism ? I feel like asking him what 
good will a drink of whisky do a man whose habit was 
to take it, or what good would a full meal do a hungry 
man who is tired ? Both are essential in their place 
(not the whisky). The toper who is burned up must 
use it if he would live. He craves it, and the burning 
flame must be quenched. If man has never used it, 
far better that he should let it alone. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 25 



SPIRITS' RETURN. 

January 31, 1873. 

Spiritualism is nothing more than an explanation of 
immortality. It is a definition of immortality. Ever 
since Christ saw Moses and Elias upon the Mount of 
Transfiguration, spirits, or the immortal portion of 
man, have been making their appearance, in various 
forms, to humanity. Peter was unchained in prison by 
spirits, and led out. St. John talked with them on the 
Isle of Patmos. Peter, at the house of one Simon, the 
tanner, was sent for by Cornelius, a centurian. Cor- 
nelius was the captain of an Italian band called Cen- 
turians. 

Cornelius had a vision. An angel of God came unto 
him and said, send men to Joppa, and call for one 
Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodgeth with one 
Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside, he 
shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. 

And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius 
was departed, he called two of his household servants, 
and a devout soldier of them that waited on him con- 
tinually, and he sent them to Joppa. Peter went up 
upon the house to pray about the sixth hour. And 
saw heaven; opened, and a certain vessel descending 
unto him as it had been a great sheet knit at the four 
corners, and let down to the earth, wherein were all 



26 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild 
beasts, and creeping things, ^ind fowls of the air. 

And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and 
eat. But Peter said, not so Lord, for I have never 
eaten anything that is common or unclean. 

And the voice spake unto him again the second time, 
What God hath cleansed that call not thou common. 
This was done thrice, and the vessel was received up 
again into heaven. While Pettr thought of the vision, 
the spirit said unto him, behold three men seek thee. 
And when he went down and found the three men, he 
said unto them : 

Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man 
that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of 
another nation, but God hath showed me that I should 
not call any man common or unclean. This vision 
should be a warning to all human beings who are con- 
tracted in their views, and who think that they have 
all the good, and all the knowledge in their particular 
church. 

I want my daughter to read that chapter, and see 
what power was given to Peter, when he was lodged 
with one Simon, the tanner, a day or two's journey 
away from Cornelius. 

The New Testament is filled w 7 ith evidences of spirits 
appearing to man, but I took this one because the vision 
is filled with human spirits and animals. This vision 
was a symbol for Peter to go to those people who were 
outside of his own church. 

I want to ask her in the first place who let down that 
sheet ; second, from whence came those beasts, and 
next, where was that voice from and who produced it ? 
Saul as he journeyed came near to Damascus, and sud- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 27 

denly there sinned round about him a light from 
heaven, and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice say- 
ing unto him, <; Saul. Saul, why persecutest thou me? " 

He was blind for three days, and the Lord sent An- 
anias to him, who putting his hand on him, he received 
sight. He was then baptized, and lived preaching 
Christ and him crucified, and died a martyr to his re- 
ligion, after being frequently encouraged by visions. 
Mary went to see the sepulchre. The angel of the Lord 
descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the 
stone from the door, and sat upon it. And the angel 
answered, and said unto the woman, fear not ye ; fori 
know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is 
not here, for he is risen as he said. They not only saw 
the angel, but he spoke to them with a human voice. 
The Lord appeared unto Sarah, and told her she was to 
have a male child — Isaac. 

Hagar wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, and 
an angel appeared to her and directed her. 

Bellshazzar, the king, made a great feast. In the 
the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and 
wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of 
the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the 
part of the hand that wrote. 

Daniel had a vision, heard a voice, and felt a hand 
touch him. 

Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego were bound in 
their coats, their hosen and their hats, and their other 
garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning 
fiery furnace. The king said, lo, I see four men loose, 
walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no 
hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 
Then said Daniel in the lion's den unto the king, "My 



28 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' 
mouths, that they have not hurt me." The mind must 
have something to convict it of a fact. Thomas would 
not believe until he had put his fingers into the hands 
and thrust his hand into the side of our Savior. These 
references will be sufficient to convince her that this is 
no new theory, and nothing to be despised and shunned 
by Christians. St. John was a high order of prophet 
or saint, and had the most extravagant visions. All I 
have to say about him at present is, that his spirituality 
was so superiorly developed, he could see the manifesta- 
tions of God in all shapes and forms. To him they 
were instructive and symbolical, but to the church they 
were a dead letter, and until it throws off the pall that 
hangs so close over its eyes, his revelations will remain 
forever a sealed book to it. 

When mankind go from earth they receive their 
immortality the moment the soul and body cease to 
operate and communicate together. That spirit which 
animated the body, gave beauty to the eye, and tone to 
the voice is gone. The body then lies like a lump of 
clay taken from the earth, without expression, without 
thought, without motion. 

Where then can you find immortality, except in the 
invisible ? If the church rejects that, its whole system 
is a humbug. The whole theory of the church is to 
seek happiness hereafter, more than to do good and 
right while here ; you know that. This is the light of 
the nineteenth century, and as the mind becomes ready 
to receive it, so will it be given. Until the minds of 
this generation are developed, they can not understand 
the vision of a Medium, seer or prophet. St. John had 
many wonderful visions, they were descriptive to him, 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 29 

but a sealed book to others. From Genesis to Revela- 
tions, the Bible is filled with spiritual manifestations. 
They were called angels, spirits and lords, according to 
the customs and meanings of the people who received 
them. 



30 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



TO A DRUNKARD. 

January 31st, 1875.— J". 

Tell him as I have lived upon earth, and had a long 
experience of life, and know the effects of liquor upon 
the system, I have come back from my spirit home to 
warn him of its baneful influence, and say, good spirits 
will come to help him refrain from drink, if he will 
make the resolve, and try as far as is in his power to 
abstain. He must do it at once, for we always promise 
ourselves to quit, and yet keep taking another drink. 
He must not go where it is any more, I, his grand- 
father, say this. 

He has a beautiful angel sister here, as bright as the 
gems in the diadem of a queen. She, his father, his 
grandparents, and his own darling, like a little rose- 
bud which come out in the Spring, but who passed off 
in the early blast, all, all are ready to assist him, and 
to rejoice when he quits, but to mourn if he continues. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 31 



A PRAYER. 

February 7th, 1873.— F. 

Infinite Father, ever present Lord, hear our sup- 
plications in behalf of frail humanity. Teach us 
Heavenly Father the divine love of thy invisible pres- 
ence, mingling in hurrran affairs. We feel thy omni- 
present power through all thy divine works as a mani- 
festation of thy spirit. We know that mankind are 
thy children, born in earth's life for a probationary 
period, that thy spirit may be developed in them for a 
greater existence. We thank thee for that hope which 
makes life acceptable to poor men. We feel thy benign 
presence, and accept all our joys from thee. We know 
that a higher destiny overshadows us, as well as every- 
thing in life. Thy mercies extend over all, as the sun's 
rays extend over all the earth. We implore the divine 
aid of spirits to tear away the shackles of the church, 
and let thy rays, oh God, shine on all, until every child 
of thine shall feel their warmth. Let us feel we are 
of thy divine spirit, and let it give us assurance that 
we shall live beyond the confines of earthly life. Let 
us look to the land of thy destiny. As vapors rise 
from the stream, so shall we rise from earthly life to 
spiritual life. Let thy love bring us hope. Protect 
us when we are beset with snares and temptations. 
which would lead us away from the paths of virtue and 



32 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

truth. We are not children of chance, but of our kind 
Father, who protects us, as we journey through life. 
Oh reveal to men the light which Jesus brought in 
his transfiguration. We feel that we too have been 
transfigured, and that we shall yet descend to man to 
show him that we have passed the great Jordan of 
death, and that he will be resurrected. Help us to give 
our friend here true light. Let him fully realize that 
his friends who love him dearly, now surround him, 
and will gratify him while he lives, and meet him when 
he passes to a higher state of existence. 

May we all ever live to enjoy that divine love, and 
when we come to die, may we see the bright angels 
who hover around our bed to welcome us to thy beauti- 
ful home on high, which thou hast prepared for all thy 
children. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 33 



ANGELS. 

February 11th, 1873.— F. 

We read in the Old and New Testament of lords, 
gods, angels and spirits speaking to man, and now ask 
from whence did they come, if not once of the earth 
as we were ? What were angels created for except to 
be ministers ? God in his infinite wisdom has a purpose 
in everything he does. Why did he make those angels 
so high, if he did not intend for man to look up to 
them, and to inquire of them. We implore angels to 
assist us. Some men say angels do not come to interest 
themselves in him. I have come to teach you that man 
is immortal. We have no thrones here, and nothing 
but right. We are compelled to progress, it is the law 
of our being. The rose that opens its petals to the light 
must fade. Think you that Calvin and Luther, and 
all the great seers of the past have lost all interest in 
the present, and also the future ? Man is crushed every 
day. He knows not what freedom is, and the world 
will never know, until every man can take every other 
man by the hand and call him brother. 

Mankind have not yet cut their eye-teeth in wis- 
dom. Man is so gross. He is so far from God in purity, 
he can not see him ; yet he breathes him in the air, 
drinks him in the water, and eats him in his food. 
* Man, whether he sips his wine from a silver cup, or 
2* 



34 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

drinks only water from a gourd, has an immortal spirit. 
It holds its identity, whether lost on the battlefield or in 
the camp, in the forest, or by his own fireside, in the 
water or on the land. This century is making long 
strides in progress ; we can see the scales falling from 
the mind. The mind is great and can not be destroyed. 
My friend, may you ever be faithful to the knowledge 
you possess. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 35 



THE PRODIGAL SON. 

February 28th, 1873.— & 

The old lady who just spoke gave me a new idea by 
applying this parable of the Prodigal Son to the 
church, which is now T eating husks while the fatted 
calf is the light, and the son is the new truth they reject. 
Truth is the father of all, and the church like the 
Prodigal Son, will have to return to it, when there 
will be great rejoicing. The members of the church 
may reject this light, and think they have all the light 
themselves, but the truth will yet be known. When 
they travel and see the many worlds I have seen, and 
their different inhabitants, learn their usages and cus- 
toms, they will then find out that the atonement and 
their church is not all. They will not need then a 
virgin with the immaculate conception. 

If God would have an atonement for every world, it 
would keep him very busy in looking after them all, 
and many spheres would have to go without any virgin 
with the immaculate conception. At one time virgin 
meant merely truth. Immaculate conception of truth 
was the first expression, but priests to suit themselves 
have got it into its present shape. On this sphere, anl 
on a few others they have crime. If we admit that 
Mary did conceive by the Holy Ghost, and a Savior 
w r as born to redeem the w r orld, we can not come to any 



36 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

other concusion but that his atonement has failed to 
make man good. Now the church will have to find 
something else he has accomplished by his mission. I 
always admired poetry, and could see it on the face of 
nature. I loved to look out on the bay, and see the 
vessels with their white sails, and watch their move- 
ments. It was poetry to me, and the sea was the em- 
bodiment of poetry. We are sure that we shall be 
able to give you everything that you want. To build 
a strong ship, and have her well equipped, it will re- 
quire strong sharp tools. Now we want to build ours 
large enough for all the people to sail in, not in the 
water, but in the intellect of the world. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 37 



THE CHURCH. 

February 28th, 1873.— A. 

Your father says the anchor of the church has been 
broken, and it is now drifting. Your wife is very 
sweet, and is improving very much in her ideas of the 
use for which life was given to us. You got the soil 
ready, and sowed the seed. I feel as if I was only a 
unit. Beside our children, we have to help mankind, 
who are constantly coming over and need our help. I 
am as busy as ever I was in housekeeping, trying to 
make everything comfortable. Am truly glad I have 
found something to do. 'T is so sweet to have hope in 
both of our existences. Hope is a blessing, if we never 
realize it. I hoped to come to you through some Me- 
dium, but if that privilege had never been mine, I 
should have had hope left. The Scriptures gave me 
great consolation in earth's life. Am glad your youngest 
sister is where you can help her to understand this. It 
was a great disappointment that I did not get to talk to 
my second daughter. I wanted to comfort her in sick- 
ness, and teach her to look forward to our union. (She 
wrote this was the devil ?) I know it. I was as true a 
member of my church as she can ever be. I had as 
strong a trust in its services as she can have, but that 
faith is only a stepping-stone to immortality. 

How beautiful the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed 



38 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, 
for they shall be filled, and so with the many blessings 
we shall receive in our aspirations after truth and right. 
Oh, how little she knows of the beautiful communion 
of spirits with mortals. 'T is like the manna to the 
children of Israel, when in that dreary desert. My 
prayer is that she may yet live to see and enjoy the life 
of divine love. Oh, it is so beautiful, and a constant 
manna to the soul. 

Christ said, every tree is known by its fruit. I hope 
this majestic tree of knowledge will be known by its 
spiritual fruit. I can see that it bears spiritual fruit 
every day, that the children of earth may partake 
thereof. It is said, blessings come in disguise, but this 
comes in its full beauty, and I trust her prayers for 
light will be answered. 

She should try and not condemn, and not judge 
harshly of that of which she knows nothing. 

None should condemn those who can see this light. 
Your father was always in the habit of studying a sub- 
ject before he decided whether it was true or false, and 
I wish she would follow his example. I want to feed 
her out of her own spoon. If this is the devil, he 
must have been at the same table with her, else he 
could not have known her so well. The evil that was 
in me has departed. I have stood before the tribunal, 
and have been accepted to help mankind in the body 
and out of it. When she dies she will then learn that 
she is not without the need and reach of aid. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 39 



MAN WITHOUT IMMOETALITY. 

February 28, 1873.— P. 

'T was night ! I wandered up and down like some 
lost soul in black despair. 

'Tis night! I find myself chained, chained in a 
dungeon's darkest gloom. Why ? why am I thus left 
alone? Have I no friend? Have I not a friend on 
whom I can depend ? Oh night ! with all her black 
despair standing like a giant holding me in his strong 
embrace. I ponder — why am I thus debarred from 
every ray of light ? Oh ! is there no God ? Is there 
no God to whom I can pray ? Is there no strong hand 
to unbar these prison gates, that my soul can once more 
gaze out on nature's wide embrace? A prisoner 
doomed and condemned. Not a single friend. Bound 
down with heavy chains. A soul losing all his hold 
on God. I walk my prison like a caged lion. I would 
burst asunder these bars which keep me bound under 
this giant control. Despair, dark despair, hovers o'er 
me like the black ravens gathering o'er their prey. 
Oh time! endless time! will my shackles ne'er be 
loosened ? Shall I ever thus in dark despair wander ? 
When life was bright and buoyant, and I in youth 
walked forth, I had hope. Faith was engraved upon 
the banner of my life ; but storms arose, misfortunes 



40 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

came. Oh ! I can not dwell upon youth's bright 
promise, for it mocks me now. Speak not to me of 
hope, and faith, and trust ; my life is one black despair. 
This is the prelude to what I purpose to give you when 
I shall have cultivated this Medium's brain. You have 
my works in your library, and have read them with 
interest and enthusiasm. I saw then immortality be- 
fore me, and so some said I was crazy. They said I 
was an infidel, drank too much wine, and ought not 
to be read by Christians. My works are but a me- 
mento of what they might have been, and yet I ask, 
where are they to-day ? 

Is Shakspeare to be condemned because he wrote of 
English life and gave it a little sneer of vulgarity ? 

He did not make their vulgar habits ; he only wrote 
about them. I would grasp the hand of Byron across 
the water, and say that you live, though your accusers 
are like Sodom and Gomorrah, too far below the Dead 
Sea to be thought in existence. 

March 9, 1873.— P. When I was last here I said 
it was night, dark and gloomy night, without one ray 
to penetrate through the prison bars to break the 
shackles which bind us in darkness. But I see a little 
light as it comes through the bars of the prison gate. 
Oh light, how we seek thee ! I come to you because 
you are my brother, and I love you as such, and as 
you would throw back that gate and let in the light 
upon the imprisoned soul. Poets of the past and seers 
of all ages have sought to unravel the mysteries of 
man. Oh ! why is that lock so ponderous and key so 
hard to turn that it takes the Master of Creation to 
move its rusty bar ? There is no spring in that lock ,' 
it is close made, hard, hard for man in his finite nature 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 41 

to comprehend. What is man? — poor offspring of 
what ? 

When I went to church, they used to tell me he was 
a poor grovelling worm of the dust ; that he had fallen 
from his high estate, and was lost forever. I believed 
it not ; my brain rejected such a thought, and my 
heart was chilled at it. 

What a wonderful thing is the mechanism of man ! 
You, my brother, can comprehend the structure of the 
body and the brain ; but the mind — who can fathom 
that? It will soar like the eagle for light. When 
sickness comes, man falls upon his black and dank 
prison floor. Then comes a kindly physician, who, in 
his wisdom, will strive to relieve that suffering brain. 
What ? a worm called to relieve its brother worm ! A 
worm has not the dome of thought — it can not think ; 
but man is as far above the worm as the sun is high 
above earth. But man would even try to unravel the 
existence of the sun, and learn how long it has hung in 
its place. The sun was born long before man was, or 
could have been. But let us come back to our prison 
and see what man is. We are all children, each fol- 
lowing his own bent ; some with bright anticipations of 
power, and others of money. How with the poor crazy 
poet ? Let us look about this prisonhouse and see if 
we can find him. Yes, he is trying to tame the soar- 
ings of his young mind. His body was buried to mol- 
der with its mother earth, but where is the intellect 
which crowned his mind ? It now comes in mysterious 
order ; it has broken the prison bars ; the key has been 
turned in the lock by the Master hand, and the soul 
has fled. Where is that poor soul ? No reward has 
been offered to find it. 'Tis said that he is dead. Oh ! 



42 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

Christianity, is there not light enough in you to find 
his soul ? Can you not now catch the fugitive to see 
if he is a maniac ? Seek him in his prison, and learn 
if he is a child of God or of the devil. Calmly and 
patiently await his return, and perchance in some 
bright element that man knows not of, he may find him 
calm, quiet and majestic. His ashes rest in peace. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 43 



THE INNER MAN. 

March 9, 1S73.—F. 



n 



What of the inner man of whom St. Paul speaks ? 
It returns to earth to give knowledge of its existence. 
It is not chained in hell. It must have a free passport, 
or else it could not have come here to-day. 

This day (Sunday) shall be kept forever in remem- 
brance, because of the resurrection of Christ. 

It is a great privilege to return to earth when the 
soul has been instructed in immortality, to know and 
portray what it is. How long has mankind been striv- 
ing to learn how and what is man when he leaves 
earth? My home is immensity. My immortality is 
eternity. I am not circumscribed to time nor space. 
I live and have a being in a higher discharge of all my 
faculties. A privilege so inscrutible, who, who can 
appreciate it ? I have tried this evening to compass 
my soul to this narrow limits and conditions of life. I 
hope to bring a soul filled like the ocean with love, and 
as bright as the sun in its rays, upon earth, that all 
alike may enjoy its privileges and its pleasures. 



44 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



THE TEMPLE. 

March 20, 1873.— P. 

I have traveled o'er earth's domain ; I have traveled 
o'er the cliffs to find the eaglet's nest ; I have visited 
the lazar-houses of the earth ; I have stood upon the 
lofty peaks of the snow-clad mountains ; I have walked 
the beach of the rolling ocean ; I have picked up peb- 
bles from the shore of time ; I have heard the wind as 
it lashed the angry waves, and saw the snow-cap as it 
bursted ; I have felt the keen lightning as it flashed 
around me ; I have seen the mighty -ship, that genius 
created by the brain of man to waft the merchandise 
of nations o'er the bosom of broad oceans ; I have pene- 
trated the deepest forest of the home of the savage ; I 
have stood upon the banks and looked across the rivers 
of the Eastern world ; I have visited the sepulchres of 
past ages ; I have beheld the ruins of ancient temples 
built by man to offer up therein prayers to Deity ; I 
said to myself, what is this ? why were all those tem- 
ples built ? and the answer was, They are the home of 
thought. 'T is the finger of God pointing to the dome 
of thought which develops to man a progressive eterni- 
ty. When I pause upon the brink of this great ocean 
and see the waves that lash the shore in their angry 
majesty, and break upon the staunch ship that bounds 
like a thing of life o'er its bosom, and when I see it 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 45 

snatched asunder, and with its human freight and cargo 
of merchandise, all buried beneath the surface of the 
rolling ocean, in it I behold a symbol of divine love 
and truth beat against by the waves of bigotry and in- 
tolerance, and completely buried beneath the dogma of 
the church. But let us leave our ship awhile and go 
back to the ruined temple. They were each built by 
man, but for quite different purposes, both showing 
man's wisdom. The mind of man was able to pene- 
trate the invisible and receive an impress from the Di- 
vine Dome of Thought to erect a temple ; and for 
what? I have said, and now repeat it, " to offer up 
therein prayers to Deity." As the eagle soars to find 
its nest in the cliffs, so does the mind of man soar 
to the Infinite Spirit to feed upon that divine truth 
which forever flows from that inexhaustible fountain. 
The soul is filled with the grandeur and glory of eter- 
nity, and with that invisible spirit which ministers to 
every individualized humanity alike, whether in the 
form or out of it. As the eggs receive warmth from 
the lofty bird, so does the soul of man receive warmth 
from divine love, all, all from the same source. Man 
does not build for himself a nest like the lofty bird on 
the mountain cliff, but a beautiful temple, where, un- 
disturbed, he can offer up the fervent prayers of his 
soul, and receive the benediction of the Most High. 
But, by and by, avarice creeps into this sacred temple, 
and the church, like the merchant ship which bears its 
freight from shore to shore, bears the dogma of some 
mortal mind, and it is dealt out to the poor for tithes 
at the door of the temple. The young eaglets soon 
get their wings when hatched, and become independent 
of the mother bird. Mankind have long knelt at the 



46 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

temple door, and had glimpses of its inner glory, and 
of the beautiful spirit which ministers within. Like 
the lightning flash which destroys the merchant ship, 
so will the light of divine truth destroy all dogmas. 
Man already refuses to pay tithes to priest and clergy 
for the doctrine which they have so long dealt out to 
him at the temple gate. It has become husks to him, 
and he, like the prodigal son, seeks to enter again his 
Fathers house, and partake of his own birthright. 
No more does blood satisfy the cravings of the soul. 
No more do we seek atonement by the execution of 
the innocent to redeem the wicked of the earth. 

Blood will suffice to purify sugar, to sweeten the 
palate ; but it will not answer to appease an angry 
God. The tyrant and the victim vanishes together, 
and man stands face to face with the angels of God 
once more. I have never seen the charnel house of 
sin. I have never seen Satan bound for a thousand 
years. A. thousand years in eternity — how short! 
Finite minds can only see the material in its grossest 
forms, and, therefore, man, like his own material body, 
forms his god. The new birth will assert its claim 
when the shell is burst, and that, too, despite every 
effort of mankind to prevent it. Like the unfledged 
eagle, it may flutter awhile around the parent nest, 
but the warm sun and genial atmosphere will serve to 
soon give it strength to mount above the priest's con- 
trol. Let us find the shackles which bind mankind, 
and understand them well. Let us see who has fas- 
tened them upon us, and inquire with what right, and 
by whose authority it has been done. Century after 
century has passed ; Csesars have come and gone ; 
governments have existed, flourished, faded and died ; 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 47 

kings have been crowned, lived in royalty, and held 
their nightly revels, and yet man is not fully eman- 
cipated, with all his claims to superior knowledge. 
As we said, let us again inquire, who and what it is 
that shackles man? I see him — he is of monstrous 
shape and horrid form. He strides the earth like one 
of lofty pride and power, and his name is Ignorance ! 
Let us no longer bow to the sceptre of this hideous 
monster, or he will fasten us hand and foot. 

No ! let us partake of the waters of truth and knowl- 
edge, and be men again. The banners of this monster 
are beautiful, and captivate the young and unsuspect- 
ing mind, and the child becomes his subject ere he 
himself is aware of it. He then bows his head, meek 
and low, and calls himself a poor worm of the dust. 
Oh, Hope! what have we left? Thou art not in- 
scribed on this giant's banner, for there I see only 
despair ! It stares man in the face, and blackens his 
every page with desolation. We have read of pesti- 
lence, of famine, of desolation, and of religious wars. 
Keligious wars ! oh, what does that mean ? I pause 
and ask, do we understand the English language, and 
yet confound these two terms ? Religion is an expres- 
sion which should convey to man the purest and best 
ideas. Can any man be religious who sacrifices his 
brother man ? Can he possess a spirit of love when 
he goes forth to conquer his brother? St. John saw 
on Patmos a beast with seven heads spreading desola- 
tion world-wide. This is a type of the monster, Ig- 
norance. As we turn the pages of history, we come 
down to the nineteenth century according to the Chris- 
tian era. Yes, nineteen hundred years since the re- 
demption of man was offered up in Asia ! As we look 



48 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

along this space of time we recall many Christian wars 
of extermination. I will only add that we have sold 
our birthright for that same monster, Ignorance, and 
we are yet serving the god of our own carnal minds. 
But does destruction never cease ? Is there no barrier 
to stop its progress — not even death ? No ! for we 
see man forming his own hell, and peopling it with 
victims of tortured humanity. 

Yes, poor vile worm, we must retarn to you. 
When man acknowledges himself a worm, he sacrifices 
the best and highest aspirations of his own soul ; he 
degrades himself, and grovels in the dirt and mire be- 
neath him. No wonder — no wonder that despair 
waves her banner so vigorously over this fair land and 
dooms thy brothers to a burning hell! We have 
never seen nor strode those precincts of the damned. 
We never admitted that we was a worm of the dust. 
No ! we claim for man the birthright given to him in 
God's own image, with wisdom to erect a temple in 
which he can offer up the purest aspirations of his 
soul to his Divine Maker and tender Father. Man 
should recognize his birthright ! If he rejects the 
truth and submits to wrong, he is then in the dirt 
and mire ; he has nothing to feed him but husks from 
the giant, Ignorance ! 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 49 



FRIENDSHIP. 

March 20, 1873.— H. 

Friendship's broken wreath, I see thy flowers scat- 
tered on the ground. Oh, love, where are thy wings 
which fan my soul in ecstatic joy? Earth has no 
charm which does not fade away. Life has no joys 
but wither and decay. Peace, peace o'er the troubled 
waters roll. Angels bring the boat which wafts us to 
that shore. Friendship ! I see thy withered bud, thy 
rose leaves dead. Thy joyous bird has ceased to sing, 
because its mate has fled. 

Friendship, that word so often said, how frail thy 
links snapped by the vile breath which cankers and 
destroys. When Friendship's gone, our hopes then 
wither and decay. Why linger o'er those links and 
sigh for pleasures past ? Spring's genial warmth will 
come again, and birds and flowers return. The joy- 
ous birds shall sing again, when hope her banner o'er 
us flings. 



50 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



PRAYER FOR LIGHT. 

March 20, 1873.— F. 

Infinite Father, we once more embrace thee as the 
friend of humanity, giving out the intuitions of our 
souls like the sweet odor of flowers which charm the 
heart of man. We behold thine infinite wisdom in 
thy outstretched arm overshadowing all thy children 
with thy wide embrace. We recognize in thee our 
Father and our Mother. We see our true destiny 
when we rise above the trammels which overshadow 
our minds and bind our thoughts in darkness. Thou 
hast given the liberty to think to every one of thy 
children. 

Oh, Infinite Father, we love thee, we adore thee, 
we offer up our feeble petitions to thee for thine aid 
and comfort from the sorrows of humanity. May we 
all be awakened to a realizing sense of thy great 
mercy and thy divine care over all the children of the 
earth. Help us, oh Father, in our efforts to unfold 
this great banner of love and light over every church 
in' Christendom, over the desolate and waste places, 
over the downtrodden and the outcasts of the earth. 
May they all see the light of thy countenance, and 
learn thy loving kindness and power over all. Hear 
us now, and help us in our efforts to dispense truth. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 51 

In thee we have our being. In thee we put our 
trust, bowing in submission to that divine law which 
ministers alike to every child of thine. Help us to 
liberate the soul of man from the bondage of sect and 
dogma. May this light be the staff and stay of your 
soul, my brother. 



52 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



DEITY. 

March 22, 1873.— B. 

From the hilltops of eternal truth we come to shed 
a halo of man's immortal hopes, those feelings of di- 
vine inspiration that pave the dark hours of his pil- 
grimage with light, and make pure a hope of Deity. 
A Deity whose raiment priestcraft has blotted with the 
blood of earth's purest child ; a priestcraft who have 
obliterated the Son of righteousness and made man 
tremble until the clanking of chains of a victim smote 
on his ear, and he was forced to believe in an angry 
God. 

Not so with man in his holy aspirations, for then 
he worships a God whose countenance is like the lily 
of the valley, and whose voice is gentle as the evening 
zephyr. Man's highest aim is to imitate the semblance 
of a Deity which innate blossometh in the flower, and 
whose voice is heard in the cloudlet across the sky. 
In all the things of earth doth man behold his God, 
and see his name written everywhere and wrapped on 
the scroll of the immeasurable past. What ! do we 
now see intelligent man bowing in reverence to a rep- 
tile whom woman's child was ordained to crush? 
Yes, my friend, those leviathan-like monsters, those 
animals of past ages, the crocodile, were consecrated 
and embalmed. In every age man has tried to de- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 53 

pict Deity. In ages past God was supposed to be a 
tyrant, and so man was trying to follow in his foot- 
steps. In the present day God is supposed to be 
something mysterious, dark and cold, and to him is 
attributed the creation of both good and evil. Man's 
book of faith, as promulgated by priests, is black and 
besmeared with blood. They would still persecute 
those who would, if they could, open the windows 
and let in the light on them and on the dark places 
of earth. These are stubborn facts, and but a few of 
those that will be born of patience when we can con- 
trol this medium. May love immortal set in thy 
heart forever. May joys, like wreaths in nature's 
bowers, be thine, and when spirits come to bear thee 
above, may they look on thee with love. May your 
highest hope be realized in the land of the loved, and 
may wreaths immortal encircle thy brow in that beau- 
tiful home where the sun never sets, and where exe- 
crations have never found a hiding-place, and may 
truth, purity and prosperity follow thee to the end of 
life. 



54 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 



THE SEKPENT. 



April 4, 1873.— P. 

What ! is that a ghost I see ? I say, is that a ghost 
I see ? 'T is a horse — a pale horse, without a rider. 
Whence came he ? St. John saw six. I see but one, 
and that appalls me. What is that light shining so 
brightly ? T is a burning bush ! Oh ! is that a voice 
I hear ? Yes, 't is a low whisper ; it whispers of 
blood, of foul blood. Ha ! poor Eve, do you hear the 
voice of that serpent in thine ear as it hisses so near 
thee? Dost thou behold him as he coils himself 
around thee? Dost thou see him as he draws his 
slimy coil still tighter ? Oh, gentle woman ! and do 
you hear his voice, and does he speak to you in human 
language f Ah ! why does he speak to thee ? Why 
does he tempt thee with a beautiful apple, a fruit 
which is to make thee equal to the gods, knowing 
good from evil ? and yet, how important is wisdom ! 
Yes, thou art a gentle, beautiful, innocent woman, 
fresh from the hand of thy maker, created by a loving 
Father — and from what? The record says, from 
finite man. Thou, oh woman, thou art second from 
that mighty God. But whence is thy birth, oh man? 
From the clay of the earth and the spittle of the 
Lord God. Thou, woman, was formed of two com- 
pounds, man and God. Oh Jehovah! why didst 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 55 

thou make this woman so gentle and so beautiful, and 
not surround her with holy angels to protect her if 
thy spirit realms are filled with them? Let us look 
again on the shining length of this serpent, and see 
where he has left his mark. Let us inquire, from 
whence he came. Did God make him? God made 
the beautiful garden, and placed all the trees therein ; 
but did he make the serpent? 

Then I start with terror at the unprotected condi- 
tion of this beautiful couple amidst nature's grandeur, 
and surrounded by all her loveliness. 

Yes, he comes into the garden and holds converse 
with that pure, innocent woman, fresh from the hand 
of Deity. Oh ! where was that man that he could 
not see the intruder who came to poison his wife? 
Frail, blind man ! I pause confounded by this (will 
not say fable) unfolding of the plan of Deity, so-called. 
Here was man and woman in all their purity and 
beauty, and not one angel to guide and protect them. 
And yet they heard the voice of God as he w r alked in 
the garden. I turn in disgust from that cowardly 
man when he answered, "The woman beguiled me 
and I did eat." Oh, poor woman, with all thy sim- 
plicity and trust in God, that He would not permit 
anything to interrupt nor harm thee. Oh ! what was 
thy sorrow when disappointed and defeated in thy first 
effort for life, liberty and wisdom ! Oh ! why was God 
so strict with thee in the first century, and yet so 
liberal to forgive in the nineteenth? Has he grown 
more wise and merciful as. ages after ages have rolled 
over him? But, lovely woman, I can not leave thee 
yet, but will ever walk the earth to watch over thee. 
Let us turn a little farther in the history of man. 



56 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

Let us look at Esau, who sold his birthright for a 
mess of pottage. Let us glance at Jacob, who got 
the blessing intended for his brother. Oh! did the 
just Jacob cheat his brother? Jacob, the father of 
Israel, and yet God forgave him for it ! Have I no 
assurance of forgiveness because not blessed like Adam 
who heard the voice in the garden? Again, look at 
Hagar. Alone and unprotected, nothing but the 
sandy desert spread its form around her, not even a 
serpent near her, and with her life nearly extinct for 
want of food and water. An angel goes to her, takes 
up her child, and says to her, it shall not die. This 
was honey to her hopes,, for she had cast the poor lad 
away from her, so that she might not see him die. 
Has the serpent ceased to speak ? Does an angel no 
more come to console a Hagar? Are there no more 
mothers now with children born who need an angel's 
care? I find many records of them in the past. In 
the East was a king who swayed the sceptre of Judea. 
He was a warrior truly of the first water, not super- 
stitious, neither did he believe in voices that came 
from — I will not say where. That king has high 
hopes and ambition. He hears that a host cometh, 
and he trembles upon his throne. He would ask a 
voice that he might get tidings, and oh ! poor Samuel, 
you come up and foretell his reverses. Why does he 
believe this? Did he believe in witchcraft, which 
had been practiced from Eve down ? Poor Judea ! I 
could weep for thy children, but I have to weep for 
my own countrymen. I have no tears for thy waste 
places. The sun sheds his brilliant rays over your 
beautiful temples and works of art, but across the 
broad Atlantic from you I have enough to weep for 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 57 

in my native land, shrouded in darkness and buried, 
like Sodom and Gomorrah, beneath the Dead Sea. 

Oh Ignorance ! thy waves are mighty, thy torna- 
does are destructive, and desolate the beautiful gar- 
den that God has given to his children. 

I will pass over many interesting passages too strik- 
ing for the mighty waves, of ignorance ever to oblit- 
erate. Let us cross and set foot upon the hill of 
transfiguration, and behold the faces of that particu- 
lar sect reflected upon all that people. The temple is 
ruined, but Moses and Elias are there in the beauty 
of manhood, still sympathizing with the children of 
earth. They heard the wail of the mother as it went 
up, and have come to console her. Oh mother, you 
would gather your children together like a hen her 
chickens under her wing, to protect them. Ah ! have 
you found out that man needs protection? and have 
you set Moses and Elias upon the Mount to protect 
them? and from what? From more dogmas, which 
are more subtile than the serpent, for he said, partake 
of this and you shall know good from evil, while they 
want man to bow down to the monster, Ignorance. 

What, did one dare to say that this world turned 
round, while another one ordered the sun to stand 
still, that David might have time to slay more of his 
enemies ? Yes, and poor Galileo ! who treated you so 
meanly ? Why was you so persecuted and tortured ? 
What crime had you committed ? Ah, you had tram- 
pled upon the toes of a dogma of the church, and, 
therefore, you had to suffer for that. We will not 
have Moses and Elias sent to protect you nor any 
other power such as protected the children in the 
fiery furnace. Does man now believe the world turns 
3* 



58 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 



round? Do the priests now believe it? Do they 
now kneel at the truth, when they once tortured a 
man for proclaiming it? There is a conflict between 
truth and dogma. The horse is swift on foot, but we 
will tame him yet, and the dogma which he carries 
shall be usurped by light and truth. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 59 



THE CROSS. 

April 8th, 1873.— B. 

We will now say something about the cross. What 
is man ? Man that is born of woman art but of few 
days, and like the lily of the valley beneath the 
summer sun, or the hoary frosts of winter, so he fadeth 
before the ravages of decomposition. Man formed in 
the image of his God, who has hewn from the ada- 
mant a destiny, and yet he perishes like the grass of 
the field. 'Tis but eighteen hundred years that the 
people of this world have had an opportunity which 
was denied to those who existed for four thousand 
years before that time, and as they had no Savior, 
must have been annihilated. 

If God so loved the world that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son for its redemption, what was his motive? 
He had the power to take man at once to his bosom. 
He had only to breathe upon the earth and it existed. 
He could have changed all mankind in the twinkling 
of an eye, and made them pure, and yet he suffered 
his only Son to be bound in indignation and shame, 
and finally to suffer an ignominious death upon the 
cross. If God gave his only Son for the redemption 
of the world, why did he not inspire that Son, so he 
could leave a record that all mankind could under- 
stand? 

An overseer sent to a distant plantation by its owner, 



60 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

receives instructions how to proceed, and what to do 
when he arrives. Suppose this overseer was to have 
a great many different views about his instructions, 
then confusion would certainly follow. 

But so it is with the last will and testament of Jesus 
Christ, it has nearly six hundred different versions. 
This will is a knotty one, and all the lawyers and priests 
in the world can not untie it. Can it be possible that 
God who is the Father of all, who gave life to his child- 
ren, w r ho has surrounded them with every blessing, can 
not by his infinite love draw them to himself, and aw T ay 
from wickedness, and, therefore, had to give his only 
Son to redeem them? 

Is the love of the Son greater and more powerful 
than the love of the Father ? God can hang the rain- 
bow in the heavens, and the leaf upon the oak; he 
can stir with the winds of heaven the waves which 
heave the depths of old ocean ; he can make the moun- 
tain quake and liquid fire run down its steep ; this and 
far more he has done, and there is nothing beyond his 
power. 

Then why should he leave his dependent children 
in such sad uncertainty ? Did he not from thebegin- 
ning fix man's destiny? And will not man as surely 
fulfill that destiny? Can man frustrate the plans of 
Almighty God ? If he foresaw the future of man when 
he created him, why did he not then provide salvation 
for him? 

Why did he wait the destruction of his children 
four thousand years before he sent them a redeemer, 
or did God learn w r isdom as ages after ages rolled 
away ? We see Adam and Eve in the garden. At that 
time all that God had created w T as perfect, and in the 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 61 

morn of blessedness. Did God afterward find fault 
?rith his own creation? The planets were hung in the 
ether blue, and law established governing everything 
long before man was created. Was Christ a man, and 
was he composed of flesh and blood? or was he un- 
changeable and indestructible? and was he created 
different from other men? 

If so, God must have changed the established laws 
which have governed man from his creation. With 
crucible we go into the recesses of nature, and learn 
her component parts; but you are told by priests that 
your salvation is wrapped in obscurity, but believe it not. 
Put thy foot upon their doctrine, and thy knee upon 
the Koran, and count it not sacrilege to the God of 
love and wisdom to deny their ethics. 

Accept all those truths which flow unto thee, and 
call only that sacrilege which keeps its impression from 
thy heart. Call only that unholy which bids thee stop 
thine ears to that sweet music which forever flows 
from the fountain of divine truth. 



62 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



MIND. 

April 5th, 1873.— F. 

Father, we come before thee as the creator and 
sustain er of thy divine providence. Help us, oh Lord ! 
and be with us in the darkest hour of our life. Help 
us to roll back the sepulchre stone which hides us from 
the true light. 

Help us in the development of truth. Help us in 
the discharge of our duties. Teach us charity and 
love. Give us grace to conquer every obstacle in life. 
Shed thy love upon us until we feel that all men are 
of one brotherhood. 

Help thy servant to remove the dark banner of 
bigotry, which is now hanging over mankind. Grant 
for the sake of each one present a knowledge of the 
angelic hosts which now circle around them. Amen. 
To our friends and kindred we now say, "My home 
is not under the sod. I am free ! I come to greet you, 
and tell you I am with you in every affliction and 
every joy!" Truth is mightier than intellect. 'Tis 
a sword keener and sharper than the warrior's who 
battles for selfish ambition. It will hew down the 
guilt ; it will slay the monster superstition and error. 

What is plainer toman than immortality ? Man can 
direct his thoughts to what happened four thousand 
years ago, and can imagine what might happen a 
thousand years hence. He can think of the Queen of 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 63 

England as easily and rapidly as about his own wife 
sitting by him at his fireside at home. All man's 
senses are confined to his body, then whence comes 
this power of thought? Man is finite, but who can 
confine mind, and what would man be without mind ? 
It is so useful and needful to man that we find it in 
every one, in the idiot as well as the intelligent 
being. 

It is united to man's body, and yet the mind has no 
body given to it. It is produced and kept by a wise 
law, which man in his finite nature or form can not 
understand, and so we say it is of God. We can not 
deny mind, it is as universal as man. It must have 
been and was created for man, and for further uses 
than for this earth. It may suffer all that man is heir 
to, and then become released and be free. I see how 
man binds himself to earth, and thinks there is nothing 
beyond, and that earth is a prison house for the soul. 
But not so, mind flies like a spark when and where it 
will. Does not this prove to you that man is a part 
of the principle of mind indestructible and immortal. 
On this man founds his hope of a hereafter, and the 
immortality of the soul. 

It was not for a few Christians alone that man had 
a Savior ; if so, it fell short of the plan of Deity. I 
am glad to meet you all here this evening. You will 
find that it is not hurricanes which make a permanent 
change in people's minds. 



64 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 



HEAVEN. 



April 8, 1873.— C. 

Am glad to see you all here, and one who can help 
us. My son has gone into the stream, but he turns 
and looks back. It would have been nice to have 
had my daughter here, and my other son, who is not 
too tall, with all his military titles, to learn some- 
thing. He need have no fears for my grand-daughter, 
as no ghost will take her off. All who are trying to 
do good are brothers. I always tried to do according 
to my best ability. 

I looked around me to-day as I went about the 
city. I saw many going to church, many new faces, 
and went into the church and listened to the sermon. 
There I saw scarcely a dozen familiar faces in the 
whole congregation. It seems that time has left so 
many impressions. I want to speak to-night of mod- 
ern things, among which we have Spiritualism, like 
some new and unknown plant. I used to get away 
from it ; thought then it was the child of the devil. 
Did not like to approach it, nor have it come near to 
me. After awhile I had to go away, and as Shak- 
speare said, I made my exit, expecting to take a long 
journey. To tell the truth, I then knew nothing 
about heaven, and when I began to think about it, 
always got troubled, took my hat and went into the 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 65 

street, and talked politics and forgot my confusion. 
I said God would prepare a heaven for us whenever 
w T e needed it. 

I said it should be our constant study, day and 
night, to do right. I told all what Christ had said, 
u Believe and be baptized and ye shall be saved." 
It is a simple way, and you need not ask anybody 
about it, for you have the word of God, and that is 
sufficient. 

I did not stop to consider that all those who did 
not believe in Christ must also have a "place. Still I 
tried to convince everybody that my faith was right. 
I used to have full faith in the dogma of the English 
Church. I became more and more liberal ; then saw 
superiority in the Campbellite Church, and took my 
place in it. 

I had not then solved the mystery of Spiritualism. 
Pharaoh's heart was hardened, but whose work was 
it? I said it was God's. This was only blind faith. 
I saw where Jacob and Esau contended for the birth- 
right, and how Esau was cheated by his brother, and 
although Jacob was a thief, it was then said he was 
after God's own heart. Oh Jacob ! if one of my chil- 
dren had done as you did, I should have got a sprout 
and whipped him well. I also saw one of those ter- 
rible prayers in Psalms, which are said were David's 
prayers. He, too, was after God's own heart. He 
saw a beautiful woman, and although he had many 
concubines, he was not satisfied with them, but wanted 
this woman, and so he placed her husband in the 
front rank of battle, that he might be killed. I said, 
well, that was David, and I had no right to meddle 
with him. I read about Jonah. God prophecied to 



66 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

the Ninevites the destruction of their city, and he 
was sent to tell them. But he, believing the prophe- 
cy would fail, shirked his duty and went another 
way. He got on a vessel, a heathen ship, and w T ent 
sailing. A storm arose, and the ship was tossed furi- 
ously by the angry waves. Jonah was down in the 
ship asleep. They had many superstitions, so they 
cast lots, and it fell on Jonah, consequently they 
threw him out of the ship. The sea then became 
quiet, but God had prepared a whale, who took him 
up and threw him out on the land, so when he came 
to land he then went to deliver his message. Such 
literal readings the church neither sees nor reasons 
about. Jonah, however, took the right to argue with 
God. So one religion rose and died, and another 
flourished upon its ashes. Sects and dogmas rose and 
multiplied, and I do not think you can find a philoso- 
pher in heaven, nor on earth, who can make any 
sense out of them. After my soul and body had sep- 
arated, I found myself surrounded by my children. 
My daughter first took me by the hand. That did 
not agree with my ideas of heaven, which I had 
always thought to be a great way off, and had never 
dreamed I should see spirits near earth. 

I asked myself, can this be heaven? I knew that 
I had betrayed no truth. I had not been sent on a 
mission, and, like Jonah, went another way, that I 
should be thrown on shore in a strange land. Yet 
here were my children around me who had been gone 
from me for many years. I had believed they were 
in heaven, and that I should meet them there. 

I asked my daughter, " Is that you ?" She answered, 
"Pa, it is," as distinct as ever in life. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 67 

Then another daughter came to meet me, put her 
arms around my neck and kissed me. 

Then came my other children and many friends, 
who crowded around me, and whom I recognized in- 
stantly. I asked myself, am I in a trance, or am I 
in the spirit world? I could not harmonize the ex- 
isting facts with my former ideas of heaven, and so I 
was bewildered. 

My old servant came to see me and your dear son. 
He said, "How do you do, grandpa?" and then I 
took him on my knee. 

I thought it best to first learn where I was before 
I talked much. I was anxious to go and see " the 
great white throne," but did not say much about it. 
I thought perhaps I was in a dream. I had many in 
life, but none were as bright as this. I asked my 
daughter, one day, What does all this mean? — I can 
not comprehend it. Finally they took me from the 
house. 

I remember to have heard Ferguson preach once 
about our spirit homes. I never reflected about it, 
because I believed it to be the most terrible heresy 
which ever fell from man's lips. I began to learn 
and to think, and now avail myself of this privilege 
of coming back to you, and shall never again reject 
the truth of Spiritualism. Thus began my work in 
the spirit home,- and ever since I have been trying to 
reach many of my friends in earth's life, and still 
hope to be able to do so. We have got many things 
to reform. We must begin at home ; begin in our 
own family, teach them the true philosophy of life, 
and let them realize the truth. I have a large family 
here, and am no stranger with you. My grandchild, 



68 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 



I spoke of you once to-night, and now say as Christ 
said, I have come to do you good, as all good people and 
good spirits do. St. Paul said, that a man was an 
inner man within a man. 

I see one definition which is apparent to every sen- 
sible man, that it is a co-partnership. If there was 
no reason why the blood should cease to circulate, and 
why the bones should decay, there would be no reason 
why man should die, and as the whole body decays, we 
know there has something gone out of it which when 
there prevented its disorganization. If the sap is cut 
off from the tree it soon dies, there is nothing then to 
make foliage and fruit. I use this simile to show you 
that something has gone out of the body. When the 
body is dead, it may be full of blood, and yet some- 
thing has gone out of it. St. Paul says it is the inner 
man. Thus has man been taught to prepare for the 
future, as his own soul is constantly crying out for 
something above and beyond him. 

Our senses dictate the wants of the body, and so 
we crave food and drink. But our senses can not 
dictate the wants of the inner man, for it craves that 
which can not be satisfied by the senses. 

We supply the physical body, and still the mind 
wants something to rest upon, and, therefore, it bows 
and worships God. The mind is born in form, it 
lives in form, and it must have form to worship. 

How many different forms of worship it has. The 
heathen make idols for their form, as their minds are 
too crude to worship an invisible spirit. All nations of 
the earth once worshipped a god of form, and the mind 
of man has not yet got rid of it. 

It has been little by little that man has lost faith 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 69 

in such gods. At one time man fought hand to hand 
in conflict, but after awhile in a body, then came 
what is called religious wars. Have you ever seen hogs 
with their feet in the trough biting one another, and 
wanting all the food? Well, this is a gross but true 
picture of man's hoggish nature. 

After awhile their ideas advanced, they begun to 
build houses, temples and cities. Their first temples 
were heathen, in which they prayed only for help from 
their idols to conquer and destroy their enemies. They 
never prayed for peace and happiness hereafter, al- 
though they held converse with spirits and called them 
gods. In the early Jewish dispensation they did re- 
cognize their friends in the spirit world, and held 
communion with them. This fact was designedly left 
out of the Bible, and it was made to condemn necro- 
mancy as it is now to condemn Spiritualism. Recall 
the simple fact of Saul when he saw the hosts march- 
ing against him, he became afraid, and inquired of the 
Lord. The Lord answered hinTnot, and so he went 
to Endor to consult a woman who had a familiar spirit. 
She asked him, " Whom shall I bring up unto thee?" 
and he said, " bring me up Samuel." And Saul per- 
ceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his 
face to the ground and bowed himself. This record 
proves that it was a common thing for that people to 
meet together, and seek information from departed 
spirits. Now churches take only such passages as 
pleases them. 

For example : A certain rich man and a poor beg- 
gar named Lazarus, who was full of sores, and laid at 
the rich man's gate. " The beggar died and was car- 
ried by the angels into Abraham's bosom ; the rich 



70 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

man also died, and was buried, and in hell he lifted up 
his eyes, being in torment." "And he cried and said, 
Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus 
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool 
my tongue." They were not too far apart to converse 
with one another, not further than across the street. 
There was plenty of water, and yet the angel with all 
his sanctity, purity and charity would not give one drop 
to relieve that famishing soul. Failing to receive this 
the rich man said, " I pray thee, therefore, Father, 
that thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for I 
have five brethren, that he may testify unto them lest 
they also come into this place of torment." This tor- 
tured man wanted to give information to his brethren 
that they might repent and be more charitable, and I 
will add that they might join the church and pay tithes. 
But this happy archangel, notwithstanding the suffer- 
ing below him, refused to send this benevolent message 
and preferred this beggar who had never done anything 
good in his life ; was too lazy to earn his own bread ; 
was too filthy to wash and was covered with sores so 
that the dogs came and licked them, than to rescue 
from suffering the rich man's brethren. When we com- 
pare the archangel with the rich man, we might say 
with our friend, " consistency thou art a jewel." 

The church condemns the rich man, and for what ? 
Had he done anything wrong ? and yet commends the 
archangel who refused a drop of water to the rich man, 
and to send a kindly message from the tortured man to 
his brethren w 7 hom he yet loved. This was in the Bible 
and I had to take it as it was, but to-night I bow my 
head to my son and daughter, and to you in acknowl- 
edgement that I have been deceived in the readings of 






ANGELS MESSAGES. 71 

that book. I have often heard people say, " if I was 
deceived I would acknowledge it." In earth's life we 
want to be equal, and feel as well as our friends, there- 
fore, we do not like to admit that we have been deceived. 
'T is hard to tear aw T ay from old habits and prejudices. 

We see the beast rising out of the sea of strife with 
many heads and horns, and it is a good symbol of the 
numerous dogmas that have spread themselves over 
the world in the last eighteen hundred years, and always 
ready for another. 

We have now a new edict, and preachers say it is 
the devil. How has he time and opportunity to look 
after all the souls he has captured from the beginning 
of time ? I should think that this would prevent his 
attending all the " circles" to catch what few he might 
find there. 

In that book which I held to my bosom I find vile 
things. St. John saw many beasts, but think he did 
not see this one Spiritualism. It is an unruly beast; 
it does not pay tithes ; does not kneel in obeisance to 
priests ; it has no horns for them to lay hold of, and its 
body is so slick they can not take hold of that. I use 
this figure only for comparison. I hear one say I would 
like to get a test. Let them tell me how long ago such 
a thing happened, when he saw me last, and what he 
then said. Simple tests! St. Paul said, "give milk to 
babes, strong meat to man." Tests are not the life of 
vigorous thought. Infidelity has been hurled at all 
free thought ever since Christianity was first planted 
on earth, and since priests found they could make a 
living out of it, and from that time it has been bought 
and sold. When man becomes enlightened, and finds 
he is his own priest, his own redeemer, that there are 



72 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

no more tithes, he is then a friend to humanity united 
to one good. Then he would not do like the archangel 
by refusing a drop of water to a tormented man, and 
to send a benevolent message from him to his brethren 
when that archangel had trillions of angels at his com- 
mand. 

Was it more pleasure to this deity to have the praise 
of one than to rescue a whole family from hell? We 
do not read that Lazarus had ever done anything to 
merit this distinction and place, or that the rich man 
had ever done any wrong or crime for which he was 
tormented, then, where is the justice? My friends be 
above the fallacy of the nineteenth century, like the 
eagle above the earth. Husks can not sustain life. 

The so-called Christian religion lacks the true ele- 
ments to make mankind happy. Let us then walk 
straight onward and obtain our own birthright. No 
Jacob can cheat us, no monk nor priest can deprive us 
of the strong, love of the Divine Father of creation, 
and of that God who never stoops to meanness. Let 
us realize the elements of a new birth within us. If we 
are baptized in the truth, and our banner is purity, we 
shall conquer, filling our destiny, in that there is no 
fallacy. May you all feel the responsibility which rests 
upon you. May you all see the light which is shining 
around you. May you realize the truth of what our 
friend said, "I am not dead. There is no death to an- 
nihilate man." 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 73 



SINFULNESS. 

April 14, 1873.— F. 

We draw near the earth that we may come in rap- 
port with man, to assist him in rolling back the cloud 
which so long has hung over his spiritual vision. "As 
your faith is, so be it unto you." If you believe in 
a power of evil, you may expect to be exercised 
thereby. When you draw your cloak of sectarian 
prejudice around you, then you refuse a truth higher 
than ever has been preached to you from any pulpit. 
Oh youth, how you are smitten ! T is like the miasm 
which spreads over the flowers in the garden, when 
you are taught those things which poison the mind. 
True independence is necessary to investigate any 
scientific truth. You must first lay aside your super- 
stition and bigotry, and the false teachings of past 
ages. You must not accept one thing because it 
meets your approbation, and reject another because 
you do not like it. Bow to no argument which is 
not true. The grain of corn, when planted in genial 
soil, blooms and brings forth its kind. What did 
the Indian know of cotton in the early days of this 
country? These fields which are now so beautiful 
were once desolate, filled with serpents and alligators ; 
but, after years of culture by man, they produce corn, 
cotton, and rice. 'T is but a few years since the Pil- 
4 



74 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

grim Fathers landed on our soil. They found it deso- 
late and the climate sickly, and soon they faded 
away. It was at that time thought to be impossible 
for anybody to live in this country. 

Their mortality was then owing principally to their 
ignorance. Instead of cultivating the soil, they were 
hunting for gold. They were too ignorant of science 
to succeed. We see priests continue to mumble their 
prayers, and still man's hand is constantly raised 
against his fellow man. 

Knowing this, we might ask, Has the blood of 
Christ lost its potency ? Let us come forth like the 
stalk from its kernel in the soil, and lay aside all 
those teachings of the past which stop the progress of 
thought. Let us find our own true birthright, be- 
cause we know we are the children of God. We have 
no demon to fight ; we have only to cultivate our own 
mind, and to rise above the superstition and bigotry 
which now darkens it, and to float upon the billows 
of truth, rejoicing that God lives now and forever. 
We see the good and bad meet daily together. You 
say you have a thirst for knowledge, but do not wish 
to meet with any wicked spirit. Neither do I ; and 
yet I have met many. It is now a part of my occu- 
pation to develop them, so they can rise above the 
meaner propensities, such as lying, theft and murder. 
We need not go to Asia or China to find what the 
Church calls heathen, for they are here in your very 
midst. I can take you through your own city and 
show you vice in all its forms ; not only in rags, but 
in silks, jewels and paint — in what is called a lady. 

You ask them do they believe in Christ and in his 
atonement? If they answer yes, it is all that is neces- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 75 

sary, and their oath will be taken in any court. But 
what means this rabble? You say they are the out- 
casts of society. Society f that is a big word, and I 
suppose it means of worldly possessions. 

We find much of the pride of the old country in 
America, in striving for titles. Have we nothing 
better to strive for? Your preachers often tell you 
that God is no respecter of persons. Neither is death. 
Like a famished w T ild beast in his native country who 
prowls upon the traveler, so is death. He makes no 
distinction between those clothed in rags, in obscurity 
and poverty, and those in silks, jewels, wealth and 
position in society. I can recall the time when a 
member of the Methodist Church was not permitted 
to put out a jewelled hand to "take the body and 
blood of Christ." At that time this denomination 
was a plain sect, and worshipped God according to 
their own dictates. Then they were not wealthy ; 
had not such fine churches, with their organs, and 
would not be thought as respectable as they are now 
with them. So with everything ; when it grows out 
of its infancy, it grows out of its disgrace. That is a 
hard word ; perhaps disreputable would be better. 
All people and denominations are equally disreputa- 
ble when they are free enough to tear apart a dogma 
which they no longer believe. Then they call down 
the wrath and lose the respect of their fellow men, 
who continue to believe the dogmas. 

We should all be idolaters if we all went according 
to our own ideas. We have only to look over the 
pages of the past to learn what we would have been 
to-day. Dogs bark and bite ; 't is their right — 't is 
nature speaking out. Every animal screams according 



76 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

to its own individual nature, and it is justifiable in 
so doing. 

Man is not considered genteel if he uses profane 
language, and I question if then he is above the ani- 
mal. If man is master of creation, he should culti- 
vate his own mind, and not degrade it. If he does 
this, he will rise above the animal, and feed upon the 
intellectual. If Christ redeemed the world, why do 
men continue to do so many* evil things? What is 
redemption ? What is salvation ? The church answers, 
to be saved from hell ! Let the church redeem the 
outcast and the beggar. Let them elevate woman to 
her standard of purity. Let them teach man virtue, 
honesty and charity. All want to believe that Christ 
died to save sinners; but if a man rejects this faith, 
the church condemns him. Think of the transub- 
stantiation of the flesh and blood of nineteen hundred 
years ago to bread and wine to-day ! 

Is this to redeem the world from vulgar and wicked 
habits, from sensuality and crime ? Oh ! Americans, 
your soil, from shore to shore, is stained by your 
brother's blood. And yet, in this country, for nearly 
a century, church steeples have been in almost every 
town. Bells have tolled out the place and time for 
this people to go to worship. Organs have chimed 
their notes to assist mankind in his praise. Has all 
these things benefitted our race and our people, and 
are they better and purer now than in any other age 
which has passed ? Let us go back to the old walled 
cities of centuries past, and contrast our people with 
their people, and we will then learn that the number 
and magnitude of the crimes of our people greatly ex- 
ceed any of them. Wealth does not prevent man from 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 77 

committing crime. Blood has not purified the world. 
St. Paul said, "Flesh and blood can not enter the 
kingdom of heaven." 

Yet we are taught to believe that Christ is in heaven, 
sitting at the right hand of God on his throne. Look 
around you and behold the myriad of orbs rolling on 
in their course throughout space, all kept in their 
place by a Father's hand. There is but one grand 
universe, and every orb within it, with all those who 
people it, have a home with the Father. How can 
the people of all those other inhabited spheres be re- 
deemed without the cleansing blood of Christ? Poets 
and priests tell you there is a bourne from which- no 
traveler e'er returns. Then how do they or anybody 
else know where and how we go ? Such teachings fail 
to comfort the stricken heart. When the ties of life 
are broken, and the loved are taken away, if you then 
tell them they can not return, they are stricken in- 
deed. Think you not some loved one will come to 
bear you home ? or will you be left, like the dust in 
the street, to be blown anywhere, and forever wander 
without any place of rest. Perhaps some day your 
eyes may see and you can realize that you are not left 
alone and desolate. Oh, gross ignorance and super- 
stition, ye can not and will not see the truth. We 
come to bear the little bud away from you, and care 
for it, and would have you feel there is something in 
store for him in the future. Something you can not 
gather from the waste places of Judea, or from an im- 
perfect manuscript which has been handed down for 
centuries. The dove appeared when all succor seemed 
gone, bringing a sprig from the mountain top. Spirits 
love flowers and fruits. 



78 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

Man's enjoyments and pleasures do not cease when 
lie leaves earth. Oh ! who is there who lives that can 
say at the close of the day, it has been a day of peace, 
that nothing has made them unhappy? Or who is 
there can say he is always and entirely happy? Who 
can find God? He is above all things, and like the 
w T ind, cometh and goeth. We condemn you only 
enough to raise you above your bigotry. I am your 
brother, but in a different sphere and condition of life. 
I am trying to elevate myself. 

This is a boon granted to mankind, brighter than 
the noonday sun, and more grand than anything else 
he can grasp. Man must have food and water for his 
physical body. Here his spiritual body is supplied 
with spiritual food, more refined in proportion to the 
refinement of the spiritual body. It is a food which 
has undergone a thorough chemical process above the 
comprehension of the physical man. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 79 



BLINDNESS. 

April 14, 1873.— P. 

I am deaf! the sound which is near I hear not ; I 
am blind ! the sun shines on the beauteous earth, but 
I see not its bright rays. I am palsied ! I feel not the 
gentle touch of the dear ones around me. I chafe 
like a poor caged beast. Heaven shines bright, but 
alas, I am a miserable afflicted creature. My clothes 
are worn into tatters, and I have no fire to keep me 
warm. Poor desolate old beggar! You are deaf, 
dumb, blind and palsied, and what have you to enjoy ? 
Yet there are so many like you. Ah! it is a penny 
that you want ? You can not see the face which comes 
by ; you can not hear that step which is approach- 
ing ; you can not feel its tread. Then how did you 
know that some one was coming, and imploringly hold 
out your hand? He had but two of his senses left to 
him, and still nature craved something to feed upon 
in this poor abject creature. But what prompted him 
to hold out his hand to a passer by ? It was the light 
within him. 

Poor old beggar, the world is full of many like you. 
Some in silk and others in broadcloth who are alike 
deaf, dumb and blind, but who are reaching out their 
palsied hands for a penny. Look around you and see 
the wrecks of noble men, and judge of their cause. 
Oh, I implore you to flee from the voice which pollutes 



80 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

man. Do not deny man his immortality, for it lives 
within him and speaks, though it be covered with 
rags, and is deaf, dumb and sightless. Philosophy tells 
us that every leaf is inhabited by myriads of insects, 
and also that every drop of water is filled with ani- 
malcules. 

If this be true, are we not filled with something 
more than vacancy. I refer to this fact to remind 
you of how many things exist which we can not see 
with the naked eye. Because we can not see these 
things with the naked eye, it is no reason they do not 
exist. If you look over the landscape bounded by the 
horizon, you think it beautiful, but could you see the 
light of this spiritual sphere, you would behold that 
which is to be desired more than all things else. 
There is not a vacant space in God's great kingdom. 

It is all governed in wisdom, subject to an illimita- 
ble law which operates alike from the loftiest star to 
the lowest plant. I bow my exit, leaving you to reflect 
on this great law, and of the condition of this poor 
blind beggar with the spiritual light he had within 
him. The next time I come I hope to have a better 
figure to portray my experience in the spirit sphere. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 81 



WEARY WAITING. 

April 18, 1873.— J 7 . 

I have but a few words to say in regard to the 
manifestations you have just had from your friend. 

It was very imperfect, but you shall yet get more 
from him. He tried to speak to you, but could not. 
He wanted to say, "I am weary, weary waiting for 
the boat which is to take me to the better land." He 
could not speak, but we hope he will soon have enough 
power to do so, when he will give you unmistakable 
evidence of his identity. Few are the days of man 
born of woman, blooming with life, and fleeting as a 
shadow. In earth's life how we fail to appreciate this 
evidence of power. We would bring those who have 
gone from earth for centuries with those who have re- 
cently left, it to assist us in rolling away the mystic 
pall which obscures us from our friends. We meet in 
the spirit world and mingle together. We would 
gather near to our children, and let them feel that we 
are close by them to encourage. This poor man has 
left a stricken family. In earth's life he failed to re- 
cognize this sunshine of life which he now so readily 
embraces. We have no bitter feeling toward him for 
his past opposition, but hope his now coming back will 
be a blessing to all who knew him. 



4* 



82 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



CROSSING THE RIVER. 

April 18, 1873.— P. 

I am weary, says the poor pilgrim as he crosses the 
stream. "I am weary, weary waiting for the boat 
which is to bear me to the other shore." How dark 
and misty, I can not see. I feel chilled and have my 
misgivings as I hear the oars splashing in the water. 
What is it that is coming to take me away ? Oh if it 
was a little lighter so that I could see who it is that 
is to row me to the other shore? 

I shrink back when I feel that cold and icy touch. 
Yes ! a cold hand sends a chill to my very soul. Oh, 
't is so dark ! If I could only see. Is this death which 
I feel clutching at my heartstrings? Oh could I wake, 
could I throw off this deathly feeling! I shrink! poor 
feeble worm that I am. 

Where now is the atonement, where now is my Sa- 
vior? Oh does Gabriel wait to bear me to a better 
home? Is it better? Oh so far off! all is so dark 
and gloomy around me. I see not a familiar face. 
Oh where now is my courage? Where is the anchor of 
my life which was to sustain me in this struggle with 
death, which was to be a lamp to my feet and a light 
to my way ? Oh immaculate virgin ? No wonder that 
you too should fear black death, ready with out- 
stretched wings to pluck you as the raven its flesh. 



ANGELS MESS/VGES. 83 

One might well stand aghast when such terrible things 
were around him. 

Where now are all the precepts of the preachers 
and holy men? Oh Hope where dost thou wave thy 
banner, if not over dark and despairing death which 
now gathers o'er me like Egyptian darkness that my 
eyes can not penetrate. Must I go ? Oh, must I go ? 
Go alone? Where must I go? To some unknown 
region which man has not been able to penetrate ; to 
some far off place of which no map has yet been made ? 
Is it a cold and chilly region far away where finite 
man can not reach thee in his most exalted state ? I 
bow my head in submission, for I feel that I am borne 
away, and would say to all my friends, fare thee well. 
I go from whence no traveler e'er returns. I have no 
banner of hope to wave over me now. I leave my 
church, I leave my little ones to weep and laugh, as 
by turns they will, when I am gone. W r hen I am 
gone the grass will be as green, the flowers as bright, 
and the sun will shine as clear as though no sorrow 
had ever been, or that I had crossed that black and 
turbid stream called Death. Poor miserable man! 
poor creeping worm, borne to thy last resting-place in 
thy casket, decorated with flowers, emblem of hope, 
and purity and love. That is the orthodox view, and 
now we will give you the spiritual sense. 

As I stood by the shining river, I saw a handsome 
boat launched on the bosom of its waters. I saw a 
pure and beautiful lady by her loving mother's side. 
She stepped lightly into the boat, and how gracefully 
she took the oars. It shot like an arrow, yet how 
gently the waters foamed away from its prow. Then 
it wavered to and fro upon the bosom of the mighty 



84 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

river. She is watching ? Yes ! watching for a new 
light to the spirit world. How bright and shining were 
her slippers as she tripped across the sand, took him by 
the hand and led him to the boat. In he stepped 
quietly and lightly, when she took the oars and rowed 
out again into the stream. Soon the boat touched 
the other strand. Behold ! it is a charming country, 
peopled with friends, dotted with their dwellings, and 
radiant with bright and beautiful flowers. " Oh hear 
that sweet music!" the pilgrim exclaims, "how deli- 
cious its tones, and how it gladdens my soul." I now 
see a banner of hope, and as it waves over the world, 
upon it I see engraved, "the brotherhood of man and 
the love of humanity." Night drapes not this beauti- 
ful home. 'Tis brilliant! gilded with the sunrise of 
eternity, and its expanse is limitless ! 

As I walk o'er its sands, I see footprints of angels. 
Sail brother man, one universal fraternity. Then let us 
arise and be men ! Yes, men and women ! 

May you realize a beautiful lesson from this short 
speech. This truth is as sacred as the sunlight of hap- 
piness, but I almost fear to let its rays shine back to 
man in his beastly condition. 






ANGELS MESSAGES. 85 



THE APPLE. 

April 18, 1873.— P. 

Fruit is held out, celestial fruit gathered from the 
intellect of ages, ripened by being handed down to 
the nineteenth century, that this generation may par- 
take of it and be wise also. In the midst of the gar- 
den was planted the tree of knowledge. Eve partook 
of its fruit. Humanity can not consume it. It is 
inexhaustible. Thy boughs are laden with delicious 
fruit, which will make man wise and loving. The 
world says we should refuse those apples which would 
make us wise. Yes ! this tree has long been guarded 
by a two-edged sword held by priestly bigotry and 
power. But let us walk through this garden hand in 
hand, and see if we have not a right to partake of 
this fruit. Tis a large garden, and charms me as I 
view it. I behold there a tree whose boughs are so 
lofty that I fear I can not reach the fruit. I draw 
myself up and ask, what am I, and what is infinite 
wisdom ? We were searching in the musty ages of 
the past, which have rolled away to look at the tree 
planted in Eden — tree of life and tree of knowledge. 
Ah ! I would like to find the man who wrote and left 
the description of this subtle serpent as he coiled him- 
self in those lofty boughs. It is a long way from 
Adam to our friend, who has just crossed the river. 



86 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

Oh ! how many children of the earth, of both sexes, 
and of every age, have crossed it ; that is, in whom 
nature has paid the same tribute to the Divine 
Father. We read of crime, sickness and death all 
over this beautiful country, called the new world, 
and a Christian Country. But I will not make any 
strictures. My mind, like a bird's wing, flaps to and 
fro from the past to the present. I am a living be- 
ing, watching this great subtile serpent, and I will 
bring you news of him again. He still watches the 
tree of knowledge, and advises man not to partake of 
it lest he die. 

This evening I bring you only a few pebbles of 
thought from the shore of time. The serpent is just 
as long, his scales are as bright, and his tongue as 
poison as when he stood guard. Those greasy monks 
still bow down to the Virgin Mary, because her Son 
died to appease an angry God. 

Do I not understand the English language? At 
one time we find that God is trying to reconcile man 
to himself, and at another that man is a poor grovel- 
ling worm of the dust. My friend by my side says, 
"The tree of knowledge" is a beautiful figure, so I 
will not treat it lightly. He says there is a tree of 
knowledge, and its fruit is free to all, and if we do 
not permit a priest to fight us away from it, we can 
partake of it as well as him. We have got to rise 
above the clouds, and to partake of that which is 
above, that which is not tangible to the senses, but 
to the mind. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 87 



ON THE MOUNTAIN. 

April 21, 1873.— P. 

As I walked o'er the snow-capped mountain I left 
my foot-prints in the snow. I looked o'er the valley, 
and saw the smiling landscape, with all its beauty, 
beneath me. I saw the meandering stream on its 
way through the meadow reflecting on its surface the 
light of heaven. I saw the black clouds gathering 
beneath me, that hid from me the beautiful valley. 
Where now, I said, is the charming landscape which 
but a few moments since was bright and beautiful? 
No more can I see it. Has it been destroyed? The 
thunder crashes through the heavens, and the wind 
sweeps in tornadoes o'er the earth, tearing the proud 
and lofty oak from the mountain side whirling into 
the abyss beneath. I draw my mantle close around 
me, and crouch in fear beneath some friendly rock, 
that I may find shelter from the terrible storm that 
rages so violently around me. How dreadful! My 
footsteps are all obliterated ; the storm has washed 
them all away. I can not find the path by which I 
ascended. I am a stranger on these rugged mountain 
cliffs. Must I forever remain above the clouds which 
hide me from the valley and from my home and 
friends beneath ? Or can the black cloud of death 
forever hide me from those I love ? Oh ! could I 



88 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

hear some voice from the valley as I stand upon this 
precipice overlooking the gloom below. Could I but 
hear the cock as he gives his notes of approaching 
day, I might wend my steps toward some friendly roof 
and feel no more despair that I was severed from my 
friends and companions. The cock has crowed here 
to-night, and we have heard his voice in our spirit 
homes. We have followed that voice, and have come 
through the dark cloud of death beneath us, which 
hides not those we love from us. We have come to 
this friendly roof that we might be near to and minis- 
ter to those we love. We even hear the prayers that 
ascend to us from earth's life, and try to return as 
best we can to comfort and instruct. We are all ever 
ready to help those who desire more light. May the 
beautiful angels who have hope engraved upon their 
banner, and who now surround you, ever be with you 
all, and give you that knowledge which you most desire. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 89 



A CLASS. 

April 21, 1873.— C. 

You have taken the important step to solve the 
problem which has so long hung over the world. Be 
patient and success will crown your efforts. 

We will not pretend to give you a description of the 
many friends who are gathered here at this beautiful 
reception. The inspired book says it is more blessed 
to give than to receive. The loved ones here have 
been rejoiced at the messages sent, although so imper- 
fect. May this night be long remembered in the an- 
nals of your lives as a step taken in the right direc- 
tion to bring you knowledge and happiness. 

Mediumship is beautiful. 'Tis as varied in its un- 
foldings as the flowers of the field. We hope to de- 
velop in this class music, poetry, writing and seeing. 
We hope in twelve months to materialize flowers, and 
show you that spirits gather around you. You must 
not be impatient, as it retards our progress. Never 
snatch a flower from its stem until it is fully opened, 
and then you can see its beauty. We have gathered 
together here to-night, poets, statesmen and philoso- 
phers. May the music of this spirit sphere be echoed 
there. May God be with us in our evidence with his 
divine inspiration. May he in love and mercy help 
us in our efforts to give light to our children, that they 



90 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

may see the beauty of spirit life. May their souls con- 
tinue to expand in truth and knowledge. Help us, 
O Lord, in behalf of humanity everywhere. May man 
become alive to every responsibility which rests upon 
him. May he feel that he is a man after thine own 
image, with the responsibility of a rational being. 
Strengthen us, and give us all hope, now and forever. 
Amen. 

The disciples were told by the master that they 
should do greater things than he had done. What a 
promise ! I could not retire without speaking to you 
of the many friends who are here. This is the light of 
the nineteenth century. Your friend placed himself 
upon the mountain, and because of the dark cloud be- 
tween his friends and himself he could not see them. 
Many would have reversed this picture, and let the 
clouds shut him out from his friends below. I could 
not tell you of all who are here to-night, among whom 
are many children trooping around. But you should 
see them. I know the future is filled with hope and 
purity. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 91 



JERUSALEM AND CHRIST. 

April 25, 1873.— ft 

My son, I am glad to meet you. I have taken a 
long tour and an interesting one, and will give you 
my impressions. After I left Spain I never stopped 
until I arrived at the old historical spots of the Bible. 
As I have been always interested in Jerusalem, I be- 
gan there. I looked over its hills and tumbled-down 
walls, its desolate and lonely plains, over its waters, 
and saw the Sea of Galilee, busy with its ships filled 
with merchandise. I saw where once stood the Tem- 
ple of Solomon, with its wonderful beauty and grand- 
eur. I met with many spirits of the old ages of that 
place. I asked that I might be rolled back a few 
hundred years, and that I might see Jerusalem in all 
its beauty, as it appeared when Christ was there, and 
when the Jews were in their strength. They were at 
that time a very worshipful people, for I was shown 
this spiritually. I asked my spirit guide who favored 
me with his wisdom and knowledge, if the records of 
the New Testament were true regarding Christ and 
his disciples. He said, laying aside many of its beau- 
tiful figures, it was not of much benefit. There was 
a foundation of truth in the New Testament. There 
was a couple called Joseph and Mary, who were not 
honored with the title Mr. and Mrs., as they w r ere 



92 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

poor people. Poor people at that time were not more 
respected than they are now. No Jew ever believed 
in the immaculate conception of the Virgin, neither 
did the disciples of Christ believe it. Jesus was an 
intelligent lad, and being the first born of Mary's 
children, was naturally the smartest. He was born 
out of wedlock, and Joseph never claimed him. At 
that time the immaculate virgin was not known nor 
talked of by the people. He grew up, and was a 
great reformer, and the beauty of his reformation is 
that it was spiritual. He had no advantages above 
his brothers, but he was more studious and thoughtful. 
He was silent and reserved, and consequently was im- 
posed upon by all of the family, except his mother. 
He lived much within himself. He was peculiarly 
adapted to investigate a truth, and see it in its bright- 
est light. He was what is now called clairvoyant. 
Being born of poor parents, he had, therefore, but 
little influence, for at his time there was great import- 
ance attached to riches, and people were as vain and 
aristocratic as at the present time. He had to make 
converts or proselytes, and he took them from the 
fishermen of Galilee. He was clairvoyant, and knew 
when others were also, as soon as he saw them. He 
formed a band of them that he might get spiritual in- 
formation. At that time pilgrims made long jour- 
neys to the city. Many tribes at that time believed 
in long pilgrimages, as they do at the present. A 
great many of his deeds are recorded, but there are 
many others which are not. His body was not stolen 
away at all. It was not lost sight of, but was de- 
posited in a nice clean place. The resurrection of his 
physical body has originated since that time in the 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 93 

mind of man. They did seek him, and converse with 
him — his spiritual body, not his physical. He had 
all the advantage of his clairvoyant powers. He 
recognized his friends at once, as well as his enemies, ' 
by whom he was tortured. He was so sensitive he 
could feel their hatred whenever they approached 
him. He was a brave man, a true soldier, and a 
natural philosopher. While there I found no spirit 
who had any knowledge of the resurrection of the 
physical body. He did cure many, and divers dis- 
eases, healed many who were sick, and had wonderful 
power. Not half of the wonderful things he and his 
disciples accomplished was ever recorded. It was no 
new gift. For many years cures had been made by 
laying on hands. All these cures were accomplished 
and governed by a natural law. 

I looked upon the Sea of Galilee, and thought of 
him walking upon its waters. No doubt angels held 
him up. This city of Jerusalem, once so beautiful 
and wealthy, is now surrounded with the lowest devel- 
opment of humanity, while but comparatively few in- 
telligent people remain there. I saw a great many 
spirits there, clouds of them, among them beautiful 
seers. My spirit guide said to me that, at the end of 
two thousand years, according to the Christian era, 
Asia would be repeopled with a much better class. 
If we go down hill and then continue to advance, we 
must rise again. That country and people have ar- 
rived at their lowest depths. The soil is badly im- 
poverished, its herbage and fruits exceedingly scanty, 
and everything betokens desolation. I looked for the 
Pool of Siloam, and saw nothing but a sink filled with 
filth. There you see the ruins of a grand architec- 



94 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

ture, whose builders were men of science and wisdom. 
I thought of Christ and his crucifixion, and how he 
toiled up the hill followed by the rabble, who cried, 
" away with him." When this was revealed to me, I 
thought it was no more than had been done by the 
heroes of our own country. Intolerance still exists in 
the human mind. It was the spirit of intolerance and 
bigotry that accursed that beautiful country. It was 
the mother of refinement and civilization, the earliest 
home of science and architecture, of merchandise, of 
navigation and ship-building. Here was erected mag- 
nificent temples, beautiful fountains, and everything 
that the mind of a wise man could devise to make a 
people happy. The development of the mind and the 
faculties of the brain for wisdom outstripped their 
spiritual development. They built gorgeous temples, 
elegant houses, stately ships, and yet failed to recog- 
nize that God was not in the temple, but in man. 
According to the Bible record the flood was only a 
few thousand years ago. It was then only in the 
lower country, and not literally over the whole world. 
It was, however, a great disaster, as I had the best 
of evidence from the best of spirits. 

From the facts given to me and from the best cal- 
culation I could make, Asia had been peopled tivo 
hundred thousand years before this recorded flood. 

Many of the watercourses and large bodies of water 
had been frequently and greatly changed previous to 
this flood. In Judea they had many and severe trials. 
Earthquakes were frequent and violent, and brought 
great trouble and suffering. 

Before the flood Africa was covered with water. 
Those sterile sandy deserts were once the bed of the 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 95 

ocean. They were elevated by earthquakes and dried 
by time. The old prophets had no idea but what the 
world was built upon the seas, and to them this was a 
fact. At that time the Jews were the most civilized 
people who existed, much more so than the Americans 
are to-day, notwithstanding they now have so many 
books and schools which the Jews did not have. They 
were far more strict in obeying their own laws. They 
always selected their wisest men to govern them, who 
did not end as ours do frequently, by being bought. 
In their language they had a symbol for everything. 
Every principle was symbolized by a statue. This tells 
to what a state of knowledge and science they had ad- 
vanced. They had many gods. They did not recog- 
nize one God, and could not understand how one God 
could take care of, govern and control everything. 

The corruption of language was owing to the dis- 
ruptions, divisions, separations and destruction by 
earthquakes. From several very ancient spirits I 
learned that a very great amount of useful knowledge 
has been entirely lost Jo us. Think of it ! Two hun- 
dred thousand years passing over the earth of which we 
have no knowledge nor record. During that long pe- 
riod there were many convulsions in the earth. From 
that remote period to the present time, man could have 
progressed to an elevated point in science, had not all 
that experience been lost by earthquakes. We often 
see a barbarous people now living over the ruins of a 
once beautiful city. Our native Indians came from Asia. 

This country was once a part of that, it was all in 
the same body of land. It was disrupted by earth- 
quakes and separated by water. This was done untold 
centuries before Jewish history began. 



96 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

Examine the ruins of Central America and Mexico, 
and they will tell you of a people who existed long be- 
fore the flood. These cities were destroyed by natural 
laws, and not by an angry Deity. The results of earth- 
quakes and floods have been most disastrous to the 
human family, destroying and drowning the most 
learned and scientific people who have ever lived. 
When but a few were left they naturally fell into bar- 
barism. After awhile they began to improve again, 
and retaining a traditional remembrance of past archi- 
tecture, they began to erect heathen temples. As I 
journeyed around, I saw that ambition and a desire to 
control had existed in all past ages. If we leave be- 
hind us the desolation of four thousand years, we now 
see a people occupying the same place a former race 
has done, completely changed in stature and knowl- 
edge, and following entirely different pursuits. 

We found Rome in the full vigor of prosperity, built 
up and inhabited by an intelligent race, who journeyed 
from Asia without bringing with them the Jewish re- 
ligion. The footprints of grandeur progressed as it ad- 
vanced westward. 

I asked my guide to tell me of those old cities that 
formerly so flourished and prospered, and to direct 
me to some spirit who understands the philosophy of 
the Greeks. I can not convey his knowledge to you, 
and have brought him to do it himself, which he will 
do as soon as he learns our language so you can un- 
derstand him. 

This he can accomplish much sooner than when in 
earth's form. (He learned the language and began 
his dissertation on January 29th, 1875. — A.) 

I would not topple down all faith in the Christian 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 97 

church, but hope that erelong a temple will be 
erected upon it with peace, purity and love. 

I wish you could see the bright spirits who hover 
over those desolate places which were once so thickly 
peopled, and hear them remark upon many things 
which have come down to us as facts. They knew 
nothing about that little history of " Lot's wife." I 
asked about the serpent that Moses raised up, that all 
who were bitten by a serpent had but to look upon 
and live. 

They gave me a different idea about that serpent. 
This people took a long and tedious journey, and they 
were without a home or settled position for forty years. 
They were in bondage, but obtained their freedom 
through their own intelligence. They never claimed 
it as a miracle their being led out of the wilderness, 
as it was done by a universal law. They determined 
to throw off their bondage, and they became emanci- 
pated. There is no truth in the history of the child- 
ren of Israel passing through the Eed Sea upon the 
dry land, and then the return of the waters destroy- 
ing all the hosts who came after them. The Egyp- 
tians were a proud and overbearing people. They sold 
into bondage everybody they could lay hands on, 
therefore, the selling of Joseph was but the usual cus- 
tom of that peoplec Most of the history of the early 
patriarchs is true. They were particular to keep in 
tribes, lived in tents, led a wandering life, and, there- 
fore, they were accustomed to that mode, when they 
went down into Egypt. They brought back when 
they returned many religious rites and customs. They 
fought a long time before they became independent, 
and learned enough to build cities. They were anin- 
5 



98 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

ferior race, like the blacks of America. After many 
years they became rich. Jerusalem was an old city, 
long before the Jews first occupied it. They knew not 
of the healing powers of the waters of Jericho. They 
could not comprehend an earthquake. They thought 
it was a curse sent on them because of something 
wrong they had done. Wars were almost a constant 
thing to them after they left Egypt. Their return 
to Jerusalem was after a much longer period than is 
given in the records. From the time the Jews left 
Egypt, until the birth of Christ was a period of twenty 
thousand years. Many tribes built cities, and became 
quite wealthy. I asked my spirit guide, can it be 
possible that this spot is the birthplace of the Son of 
God, and he has left nothing behind him here but de- 
solation and carnage ? The animal nature prodominated 
in those early ages, and man has not yet risen above 
avarice and ambition for great deeds in war. I turn 
to my own .country, and say, Americans, you have in- 
herited the propensities of your parents, and you hold 
animal avarice and ambition as your rule of action. 
The body of Christ was buried by his disciples, and 
they marked well the spot. "The angel of the Lord 
descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the 
stone from the door." 

This was a figurative expression, and they mistook 
it. At that time many figures was used to illustrate a 
doctrine. This meant merely " stone of ignorance," 
and Christ rolled it away from the sepulchre death, and 
showed man his true spiritual nature. Previous to the 
time of Christ the Jews knew nothing about im- 
mortality, and yet they saw spirits and talked with 
them. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 99 

Their ideas were crude, and those spirits who came 
to thein talked of earthly things and interests. I am 
sorry to say that even now many people prefer to talk 
about earthly interests than to learn of heavenly 
things. 

What could I not say to those aristocratic 
churches ? The founder of their religion did every- 
thing as privately as possible, and yet we learn that 
he was persecuted, and now we ask, by whom? The 
Testament says by the Jews, and spirits say the 
same thing. Eome had already captured this city, 
and held it as a province at that time ; and yet the 
Jews demanded that Christ should be executed as a 
blasphemer and heretic. It was done by the Jews, but 
after a Romish form, and one quite customary, for we 
see in this very instance the same punishment meted 
out to two thieves who were crucified with him. I am 
surprised that they retained that part of the history 
when they were so anxious to make Christ's manner 
of death so ignominious. 

The Passover was instituted and kept in remembrance 
of that people passing over from bondage to freedom. 
They passed through the sea of strife, and it is not a 
literal fact that they passed over the dry bed of an 
ocean, which then whirled down and drowned the hosts 
of Pharaoh. 

I went through Turkey, and saw all their armed 
hosts. Poor, ignorant worshippers, I feel that man- 
kind has yet got much to do to relieve them of 
their gross ignorance. The world is a school to fit us 
for a higher sphere. 

I never take a journey but straightway I contem- 
plate another. I now have a thirst to go around this 



100 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

globe, and see all the changes which have taken place 
in the ocean bed and in the large watercourses. After 
learning what is on the outside of our globe, I may- 
then be able to understand what is on the inside. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 101 



KELIGIOUS WARS. 

April 25, 1873.— D. 

I have been a happy recipient with yourself of your 
father's information. I hope his description of the old 
world will instruct as w T ell as gratify us both, and that 
the material he has brought will be for our advantage, 
as well as that of others. 

In hearing of those desolate and waste places I ask 
myself, has religion done this ? Was it in the name 
of God? Those consuming elemeuts of war which 
blacken the history of man have destroyed some of the 
most beautiful forms of art and architecture. I could 
respect man if it was the dictates of his sovereign na- 
ture that had then governed him. But when one man 
finds he is stronger than another, and wars with him 
for ambition, I have no respect for him. At the pres- 
ent time I see rare opportunities for the advancement 
of an intellectual religion. From the hills of Judea I 
see that man did receive light and knowledge from in- 
tuition, from an intelligence outside and beyond him- 
self, which blended with beautiful poetic aspirations. 
At that time they had sacrifices of animals. The best 
of their flocks was offered in burnt offerings to appease 
an angry God. We see the best of prophets in their 
impressible condition giving to man information of a 
superior kind. They used all their influence with 



102 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

Church and State to get them to desist from bloodshed. 
We often see a man crowned king, when at once he 
puts forth all his beastly nature to bring into subjection 
all the people directly under him. This does not 
satisfy him, for he tries to do the same with other 
nations, as far as he can raise troops to accomplish it. 
He often loses sight of the better part of man, that 
nobleness which makes a true man. Instead of this 
he goes forth like the wild beast of the forest, and 
spreads desolation world wide. In all ages which have 
passed, this monster, war, belonged to the prevailing 
religion of that period. A seer of the olden time 
wrote about the appearance of the millennium, when 
nation should cease to war with nation. That time 
has not yet arrived, for we now behold the same de- 
moralizing propensity governing our own statesmen, 
priests and clergy. 

What is the difference, then, between these old 
kings of Syria and the President of this Eepublic ? 
England claims to be mistress of the seas, and her flag 
floats on every wave. Her provinces are scattered in 
every part of the world, and on them all the sun never 
sets. She captured them, and now she holds them as 
provinces. Poor down-trodden France! I pity her 
from my spirit home. Her people are enthusiastic 
and impetuous, and man says it is her climate. No, 
it is not that, but an influence more baneful — her edu- 
cation. Germany is peopled with statesmen, and they 
are calculated to govern and hold their position. 
Spain — I see that little State, with all her troubles, 
struggling for liberty. May she prosper, and may 
liberty be heard from one end of that country to the 
other. Poor Italy ! Home in all her pride and splen- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 103 

dor would yet give laws to all the world. But wars 
have crumbled your freedom, your images have felt 
the impress of time. Yes, your freedom, like the 
snow of the Alps, has melted. An avalanche has 
come and smothered out that spirit of freedom which 
controlled you so long. Greece, you rightfully claimed 
your wisdom. Your philosophers were the best who 
ever lived, and you held the sway and sceptre. Now 
you too are like a feeble old man. You tremble in 
every joint, and will have to sit down and die in pov- 
erty and distress. Ah, Constantinople, how beautiful! 
As I step from city to city, over this continent, I feel 
that there is not room enough for mankind. It seems 
that Caesars would conquer the greater part of the 
cities of the earth. Look at the flower of our own 
country wasted in war. 

How beautiful is the wisdom of man. In his wisdom 
he is truly a God. His capacity to achieve so much 
in subjugating the world, and changing its rugged 
plains into cities, with all their beautiful temples, 
bespeaks the great intellect of man. Socrates said 
man had two distinct natures, one for good and one 
for evil. When we behold all the works man has ac- 
complished, we think him a God ; but when we wit- 
ness his devastating wars we learn he is possessed of 
both good and evil. 

He founds cities, builds temples, creates governments 
and makes laws. A nation grows rich and prosperous, 
its commerce covers the ocean, and then education and 
religion flourishes. We mnst not lose sight of the 
fact that man has continually offered sacrifices or some- 
thing to Deity. Then why should he wage war with 
his brother man in another country, build fleets, 



104 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

gather hosts, and make the flower of his nation sol- 
diers? Yes! soldiers! bedecked with gewgaws like 
the savage, then add the drum and fife to inspire 
them to action. Some one must oppose him, and 
whoever does, must also draw out the flower of his 
own country, arm them with deadly weapons that he 
may overthrow his assailant if possible. That man 
goes forth to review them, and his heart beats high 
beneath his equipment as he beholds the immense hosts 
at his command. It requires intellect to govern and 
control these armies. They are taught a manual of 
arms, and to move in different figures to give them 
victory. Could two hostile armies pause at the onset 
of some mighty battle, and ask themselves, what are 
we fighting for ? think you they could answer, or think 
you, if agreed among themselves they could be made 
to fight ? Is there no other channel but this through 
which the intellect of man can flow ? 

Can we make no better use of a war- tax than to 
subjugate another province ? We have seen troops sur- 
mount terrible obstacles. We have seen them cross 
the Alps, as did Bonaparte, and the ocean as did the 
English to hold the free-born spirits of America. I 
allude to this to show you how intellect was gathered 
for this work, nor could it have been done without it. 
Could not this intellect have been applied to a better 
purpose, to a higher and greater end than could accrue 
from war 1 We have seen barbarians and the untu- 
tored savage fight in tribes as well as the English and 
Americans. It is not, therefore, necessary that a 
people should be educated to fight. What is regarded 
as most honorable is the most disgraceful. 

The highest intellect of man has been called forth in 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 105 

all the wars in Christendom. It requires men of edu- 
cation and thought to manage a host in battle. 

I pause, and ask the Christian to read these histories 
without prejudice, and calmly answer, if there is not 
wisdom to be gained, greater and more useful than 
that learned by generals for and in war. Yes! there 
is more honor whether recognized or not in being an 
honest, skillful mechanic, than being the highest po- 
tentate on earth. We read that David was very hum- 
ble, but wealth and power corrupted him. So with 
Saul, and we can take one by one of earth, and when 
in humble circumstances they are more conscientious, 
and are better Christians than when powerful and in* 
fluential. Yet America strives to imitate Europe in 
her titles, and we hear people speak of respectable 
churches. At the advanced period of this planet, we 
see great lessons to be learned. We have looked at 
the experience our brother has gained in Asia, and it 
shows us that man in all ages past has been actuated 
by the same impulses and feelings, as he is at the 
present time. Although man has progressed on this 
planet in the useful sciences, yet how far short he is 
of that intellectual religion, he should cultivate to be 
a true man. He has all the opportunities to do this 
already given to him by his Divine Father. 

Instead of improving them man smothers out of his 
soul the truth, and everything else which the rabble 
does not consider respectable. We should beware how 
we set up an idol in man to worship. Idolatry is as 
sinful in this age as in the earliest days of the Jews, 
or of the people through which they journeyed on their 
return to Jerusalem. If we worship a false opinion, 
beoause popular, or worship a creed, we set up an idol. 



106 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



A FAILURE. 

May 2, 1873. 

I should have been gratified could your friend have 
controlled the medium, which he will do yet. He has 
tried once, twice, thrice, and will try again. Poor 
frail man, I pity him from my very soul. He too has 
turned back from heaven so bright to come here. He 
brought with him all his earthly feelings, even his 
choking cough, which filled up the little channel by 
which we reach our friends on earth. 

So it is. We ourselves find it difficult to get the 
medium from under the influence he has left. 

He accomplished much in life, and does not despair 
at this failure. It was a sad disappointment for him, 
but, sir, you are not the only disappointed man. True, 
it seems hard, when you came here feeling so bright 
and joyful, and having so much to say. But, sir, you 
shall come again. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 107 



OUR ASSOCIATIONS. 

May 2, 1873.— H. 

He was a man but he let a woman supercede him. 
We will supercede them all yet. The idea of spirit 
coughing! you can't understand that, can you? He 
could not control this medium. 

He brought to this medium with himself all those 
feelings he last had in the form, but he will grow out 
of them in time. We a,re all getting on splendidly in 
our beautiful home. We had a great entertainment 
last night, had your pa here yesterday. Your dear 
friend is well, and we are having now something sweet 
without the bitter. We were charmingly entertained 
by your pa and your little musical friend. Your 
friend the poet is quite interesting and entertaining. 
Your musical friend is also charming. (How are you 
dressed ?) 

We are coming to see you in your class, and then 
you can feel our dress, and judge for yourself whether 
it be cotton or satin, glass or diamonds that we wear. 

Yes, here we have music, birds, flowers and plenty 
to enjoy. No gossip, as is the case in earth's life. 

(How sheltered from rain ?) You have seen a drop 
of rain fall on the ground, do you think it is hollow ? 
It is hollow with air inside. A drop of water can 
keep out rain. Our houses are transparent. 



108 . ANGELS MESSAGES. 

Spirits can not get wet, nor cold, nor burned, nor 
ever suffer pain. We go through cold air without 
feeling it, and so do n't have to bundle up with shawls, 
cloaks and overshoes to protect us from the weather. 
I shall have a double opportunity now to come and 
see you. I don't want to be selfish, or I should have 
come oftener. (Do you go horseback riding?) No, I 
have not been on horseback since I came here. Oh, 
would it not be nice for you to go and see so many 
people as you do without your horse and buggy. All 
we have to do here is to have the desire, and we go 
with it. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 109 



INHABITANTS. 

May 3, 1873.— "Red Man.* 

You no get much. All cloudy up. He pale face, 
he sick, he no talk, he no control medium. Pretty 
lady stand near you, white, with pretty red cheeks. 
Tall lady too stand by you, with black dress on, nice 
scarf pin up round her neck. You know her, she yours, 
your ma, she nice lady. Tall pale face there too, 
long black hair. He poet, he your friend. He came 
here, no talk to-day. This man can not talk, he no 
satisfied. He like you much, now he so sad. He 
think he could talk, he say he must unbosom heself 
to you. He can never be happy until he do. If he be 
patient we help him all we can. He no strong, his 
wife no strong either. That old lady, spectacles and 
cap, she look so old in the face. She knows nothing 
about spirit communion, got like a child go school 
learn a, b, c. She no find it such a grand place here. 
She expect the great spirit got a big house for her and 
her church. She got mistaken. When she come here 
she see Ferguson; he no belong to her church, and 
she see red Indian, he no belong neither. Them good 
spirits talk to her, console her. She kind woman, but 
no knowledge spirit land. Red man know on earth, 
the Great Spirit have a nice place where red man 



110 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

could walk and have he pleasure. AVhite man he mad 
to red man, say Indian he dog, he kill some white 
man. Me kill bad man. Me no kill good man. Bad 
man no friend to either. Wish all was in peace, and 
all pale face in love like this beautiful land. Me 
do good. Me try to help all around me, and me happy 
in it. Me live on earth, me have no book, me no 
write like you, me go in woods, me get roots, me wash 
in branch clean, me tie up and lay in wigwam. When 
red man get sick, me go up in the tree, sit there and 
no eat, no drink, ask great Spirit what cure my tribe, 
and when me get answer me go back. Me never give 
anything, unless Great Spirit tell me, then me put 
root in water, boil, and put little on the tongue. Me 
know when it going to rain, me know nature, that 
all me had. Me never been sick, live to be old man 
fore me sick to die. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. Ill 



FORMING A CLASS. 

May 5, 1873.— F. 

Infinite wisdom ! we bow before thee this night from 
the uttermost corners of thy habitation. Help us, O 
Eternal Father, that we may understand thy laws. 
We see thine infinite unfoldings day after day, and 
night after night. We, thy children, are subject to 
thy laws. May we be enabled to unravel the great 
system which holds us in its embrace. Hear our peti- 
tion, divine intelligence, and assist us in our efforts to 
roll back the cloud which has hung so long between 
man and his maker. May fleshly minds be able to 
comprehend us here to-night as we try to breathe ac- 
cents of comfort and consolation to the soul. Help us 
to lay aside the fetters in which ignorance has bound 
us. Help us to throw off the shackles that have held 
us so long. May we be in harmony with the divine 
influence which ministers to us in every condition of 
life. May there come no more clouds between us and 
those we love, and may the noonday sun of intelligence 
beam on all our friends. — Amen. 

Everything in divine wisdom has a purpose. I 
should like to give you a picture of the angelic hosts 
who are gathered around you here to-night, but can 
not give a description of them sufficiently definite to 
be understood. Let it suffice for me to say that every 



112 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

individual now around this circle has many friends 
here who once lived as you are now living, but have 
passed through that critical condition called death. 
Death has always been held up by divines to harrow 
the minds of man. In pain and sickness, when our 
body suffers, our mind becomes weakened; if that 
sickness is protracted, it often dwells on this dark pic- 
ture of death. Yet one of the most beautiful laws in 
nature is that which separates the soul from the body. 
It is a divine law, created in the beginning, or at as 
early a time as man's mind can grasp the idea of a be- 
ginning. The mind must have some point to start 
from, and that is the beginning. In the unfolding of 
those laws governing man, we find he can not retain 
his physical vigor and strength, nor his power of mind, 
long after he passes sixty years. This is a deplorable 
fact concerning the present inhabitants of our earth. 
If we search the records of man we learn that at one 
time he lived nine or ten hundred years. Now man 
scarcely ever pass one hundred, and then " sans eyes, 
sans teeth, sans everything." We now see that when 
men become old, decrepid and shrivelled, their nearest 
kin are anxious for them to pass out of existence, and 
seem glad when death comes to claim them, or when 
this divine law 7 ministers to them in its beautiful un- 
folding. Youth takes little or no interest in this, our 
beautiful home. To them it seems too far away, and 
peopled mostly with the old. *T is a beautiful world, 
though unseen by man, and yet we would throw back 
the door and let him look in. The ark of the taber- 
nacle is in the innermost temple, and the prophet must 
have had some idea of immortality. Those wise souls 
taught man of a high condition, which they themselves 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 113 

must have realized. All along the pages of the past 
we see this star giving hope and insight into man's 
immortal existence. Man may live in pride and pomp, 
but his mind will go back and seek to unravel the con- 
ditions of the future, and inquire if death ends his ex- 
istence. This is an important question, and we come 
here to-night to settle it, and give you all abundant 
evidence that you may know man lives in a higher con- 
dition than that ; one which is in harmony with God and 
angels. May this knowledge give you comfort and 
consolation in all the trials of life, and may this hope 
of a better existence now held up to you make you all 
realize that you will not be cut down like the grass of 
the field. Christ said, "And if ye die ye shall live 
again ; " if lost in the form, ye shall live in a higher 
and holier condition. When man realizes his true re- 
lations and conditions, he has then taken one step in the 
progress of his divine nature, and has the advantage of 
two existences, one natural, the other spiritual. Your 
every spiritual existence now lives within your own 
body. You know not how to separate them, and yet 
they are there together, neither do you understand 
how that spirit still exists away from that body, and 
yet continues to live. I have passed away from you, 
and ascended to my Father's house, "not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens." 

This mansion for the blessed is not far away from 
you, and it is for all those who once lived and have 
passed away, according to nature's laws. There is 
nothing which gives me more pleasure than to meet 
again with those with whom I associated on earth. 
Among the many with whom I was once familiar is 
the family I see here to-night. Many differed from me 



114 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

and thought me crazy, as the most charitable view 
they could take of me. 

Now we are in spirit harmony, and have forgotten 
all that was wrong. How blessed that we can forgive ? 
There are so many here to-night who now live in the 
fullness of spirit life, high, genial and happy. Your 
wife is here, and may she long enjoy the hospitality 
always meted out in this house. Your mother has 
many words for you, and bids me give love, and say 
how happy she feels in these privileges of communion. 
May the divine Father bless you all, and keep you in 
peace. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 115 



PRAYER AT FORMING A CLASS. 

May 5, 1873.— C. 

Almighty wisdom, we submit to the divine out- 
pourings of thy pure spirit. We are the children of 
thy hand, oh Lord, fashioned by thy wisdom, and 
may we ever move in the right way, and draw near 
unto this light which is from thee. May we be more 
merciful in our nature as we advance step by step to- 
ward thee. We have seen a light shining in our 
midst; we have heard the sweet voices of those we 
love ; we have seen the curtain drawn aside by which 
we were hidden, and have come here to console, to 
teach and to elevate those we love above the passions 
of life. May they, as they journey on, learn new les- 
sons of love ; may they be able to withstand the shafts 
of bigotry, and may they have a broader influence for 
good over the earth. May our light so shine that all 
may see there is something good in store for them in 
the future. From the highest angel to the lowest 
being on earth, we feel we are but a speck in thy 
creation. Hear us, O Lord, and make us more truth- 
ful, more honest and more sincere in our associations 
with one another. May we all see the dawning day 
and feel we have a great work to do. Hear us to- 
night and forever. — Amen. 

There are many here to-night who would like to 



116 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

communicate, but can not, for various reasons. Our 
vision is limited to some extent, as we can not foresee 
what conditions will surround us. We hope sincerity 
will govern this class. To learn fundamental truths 
may make you all better men and women. 

We must save the force brought here to-night to 
control these different mediums so we can give nightly 
communications. It requires power for everything. 
You must have brain power for thought, and when 
that is exhausted, it refuses to act. This is the first 
lesson to this class. We first had prayer, that your 
minds might not be frivolous. 'T is a serious thing 
to learn the condition of the soul. We will show you 
that the soul moves outside of the body; that it 
comes and holds tangible communication with those 
in the flesh. It comes through the brain. 

Sometimes a hand is controlled to write, and yet 
the brain does not comprehend what it is writing. 

We shall' begin at the bottom round of the ladder, 
and when we have ascended that, we shall never go 
back. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 117 



ROME. 

May 9, 1873.— S. 

My son, we will now take up the thread of our 
narrative, and look over some of the old cities of 
Europe. We will look over Italy, and see the down- 
trodden humanity who claim to be Christians, as all 
do who recognize Jesus Christ and the redemption of 
the soul by his crucifixion. I see the Eoman Catholic 
religion predominant in Rome, where they claim to 
have received it direct from the Apostle Peter. I 
look back and see St. Peter in his humble fisherman's 
garb, and then look at the Pope with all his para- 
phernalia and grandeur claiming to be his disciple 
and mouthpiece. The Pope reigns over an immense 
people, and subjects them to his church. 

When I looked upon the Pope in his palace, and 
the magnificent church he entered with such grand- 
eur, erected and supported by his subjects, and when 
I looked upon the great image of St. Peter, I asked 
myself, can the Pope be his disciple ? The Pope is a 
highly educated man, and it is a mystery to me how 
he can, with his knowledge, be so tyrannical, and how 
he can hold so many in subjection with the Roman 
Catholic religion, when he knows it is not true. It 
is enslaving the mind, as all religions or every 
dogma does. Its believers are more servile than the 



118 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

slave. They are brought up in ignorance and kept 
in darkness, but they are never fully satisfied. The 
Roman Catholics are boasting of their power in Rome, 
for there is great immigration tending there. The 
city is improving very much, and has many attractions 
for wealth. Rome will rise out of its ashes, and in 
less than a quarter of a century will be in a more 
flourishing condition. In a few years the Roman 
Catholic sceptre will cease to sway Italy, and it will 
be one of the freest countries on the globe. The 
Pope's health is somewhat precarious ; his life will be 
short, and there will be great difficulty to settle on 
another. The next Pope will never have the power 
this one has, and he will be the last one the church 
will ever have on earth. Italy has a most genial at- 
mosphere, rich soil, healthy climate and charming 
scenery. Salubrity of climate tends to develop intel- 
lect, and as soon as the Pontiff loses his power, as he 
surely will do, and we will see it, then will Rome be 
free and the people of Italy prosperous. Then will 
the Church of St. Peter be the greatest philosophical 
school in the world, dedicated to science. Then we 
will have a scientific religion taught there, gathered 
from the scientific researches and reason of the whole 
world. Then will that magnificent display and grand- 
eur which has always kept the poor and ignorant in 
awe fade away like snow in the warm sun of spring. 
Although Spain is unsettled and filled with strife, we 
see there the elements which will yet make it a re- 
public, and then the Roman Catholic religion will 
lose its power in that country. Superstition and the 
religion of state goes hand in hand, and ignorant peo- 
ple are always ready to fall down and worship it. No 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 119 

people can ever prosper tied to the chariot wheels of 
the Pope, whose religion has blackened the best coun- 
tries of the world. The Jewish religion ruined Judea, 
and the Christian religion was the downfall of Rome. 
When any people are trained into a superstitious be- 
lief, they lose their independence of mind, and that is 
essential for every country to have in order to pros- 
per. In Germany I found the chemists far superior 
and of greater scientific research than in any other 
country I have visited. You have many bright 
friends here, and they intend to instruct you in our 
science, which you may give to the world, whether 
they are worthy or not to receive it. 



120 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



SCHOOLS. 

May 31, 1873.— & 

My son, we have had many things to interrupt our 
communications, and I had almost despaired coming 
to-day. There are so many poor fellows who would 
like to find some open window to comfort themselves 
and those on earth, and it is all right and proper that 
we should try to help them. We can not continue 
our subject of travels to-day, but you need not feel 
disappointed, as you will get it. 

I feel quite anxious to communicate with my daugh- 
ter, and hoped to do so to-day. She is a sweet child, 
or rather woman now, and I think she would receive 
great comfort. 

Your mother sends much love to both. It gives us 
much pleasure to see you so happy in your families. 
Real harmony should always be in every family. Oh ! 
that I could give consolation to all, and assure them 
that the windows of heaven were not closed. All of 
our children are very dear to us yet. None should 
ever close themselves up behind a wall of prejudice, 
and refuse to accept facts or investigate them. There 
are none in life who doubt that they would like to 
come back after they leave earth and come here, and 
when they do come, find it as difficult to send com- 
munications as you do to get them. This fact is often 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 121 

forgotten, not appreciated and not understood. Your 
friend, the poet, is not far off, but the conditions to- 
day are not as good as he wishes to give what he in- 
tended. 

I saw your sister two days ago, who is much en- 
feebled. I would give anything if I could speak to 
her, and give her consolation. Wish she might come 
here with a better knowledge of our condition than 
she now has, but to do this, she must tear away the 
vail from earth's life. We all regret that she refuses 
comfort from this discovery. 

You instructed your wife in what she might expect, 
and she found it bright and pleasant. Wisdom is a 
benefit to man, and worth all the trouble he has to 
obtain it. It is sometimes great trouble to obtain 
some information, but it is found of great importance 
when once you possess it. 

In some minds we see a retrograde condition. In 
them we are not surprised to find opposition. You 
are obliged to have a brain before you can obtain wis- 
dom. Children must be properly born to receive cor- 
rect ideas. 

Was I a man to-day, with plenty of money, I would 
establish schools with every advantage in locality, w r ith 
buildings suitably arranged and ventilated, and fill 
them with children. I would teach them very differ- 
ently from what they are now taught. I would feed 
and clothe them differently, and make it truly a school 
of reform. I would have such food prepared as would 
make good blood, bone and muscle. I would have 
them exercise. They would then have a healthy 
stomach and a healthy brain. I w T ould have none but 
moral amusements, singing, music, riding, dancing 
6 



122 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

and exercising. I would have workshops of various 
kinds, for both sexes, boys and girls. I would have 
them study so many hours ; give them questions in 
classes in a large hall. It would teach them it was 
not a crime for the sexes to meet on a level. I would 
have no vicious books to give them ideas of vulgarity. 
I would have pictures of nature in its highest organ- 
ization. We would then have a healthy race, with 
healthy brains. In such schools, conducted in har- 
mony with health, pupils would learn more than they 
can possibly learn now, with bad eating, bad sleeping 
and poor exercise. This is developing a diseased 
race, and it takes great skill to overcome any disease 
when it overtakes them. This is the philosophy we 
intend to teach in your class, when fully established. 
Philosophers and many other highly educated pro- 
fessors will assist us. You have a good class, and we 
want to develop it. Many in it have not yet got 
above the wish to hear from their personal friends, 
and we will have to satisfy them before we can begin 
to teach philosophy. Then we will bring treasures to 
this scientific school. This is the best we can do now. 
In all conditions we have to help those below us. 
We want to draw this Medium's brain away from 
personal things, in order to elevate her for something 
higher. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 123 



THE NARROW BRIDGE. 

May 30, 1873.— P. 

As I looked out I saw darkness beneath, above, and 
all around me. I peered into it till I saw a little nar- 
row bridge, long and small, stretched dimly along 
through the darkness. As I set my foot upon it, it 
seemed to quiver and shake as though it had no 
foundation. It vibrated to and. fro mid the murky 
darkness which surrounded it. Step by step I wan- 
dered on it. I paused, then again stepped forward. 
Oh doubt ! thou art the darkness which surrounds us. 
Tis thy falterings doubt. As onw^ardly I tread this 
narrow bridge it shakes and quivers. How unsafe I 
feel as I swing to and fro upon this dark little narrow 
bridge. How unreal it seems. My eyes can scarcely 
behold it. Yet how they are crowding along over 
this insecure footpath. Yes, rushing heedlessly along. 
Poor, frail man ! Oh humanity ! can you not light a 
lamp, and by some process hang it over this bridge, 
that all can see where they step ? Poor man ! I see 
you wandering around searching for a better path, for 
a more secure footing, that you may pass over. Oh ! 
why can you not put a sign-board here that man can 
read and learn the way. Poor man! you pull the 
caul over your own face and refuse to look at the lit- 
tle star which an angel holds across this dark chasm, 



124 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

at the other end of this narrow bridge. Do you, my 
brother, sit down by the roadside and refuse to look 
at this beautiful light at the other end of this narrow 
swinging bridge? No! for you behold it, and accept 
it to guide you on. Your wife has walked over this 
narrow way, and so have many other weary travelers 
come across it. We see many standing and discuss- 
ing the probability of their walking across this nar- 
row swaying bridge. I, too, walked o'er it, and how 
many others I can not tell. Yet so many fear to 
trust themselves upon this bridge, which is our only 
method of communication. Yes, and we would gladly 
come to them and bring them flowers of consolation, 
wet with the dew from this pure sunlit home. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 125 



ANGER 

May 9, 1873.— F. 

My friend, I am sorry, and we are all sorry, that 
anger should follow us in the spirit world. We have 
left the body, yet we partake of our earthly nature 
for awhile, then rise above it and govern it. 'Tis like 
a giant. We see here a man with noble qualities, and 
yet he has propensities which hover around him when 
he comes back to earth. He still wants to control 
others, whether he is right or wrong. May he grow 
calm ere he comes again. May he lay aside those 
feelings which bring not happiness, neither here nor 
on earth. May he outgrow that feeling which the 
family called tyrannical. Few in earth's life understand 
spirit life. Many persons think that as soon as death 
comes, and the spirit is released from the body, that it 
becomes perfect at once. This is a great mistake. We 
come out of the earthly body with all the propensities 
which actuated us while in it, and we grow out of 
them only as we are educated and progress. There- 
fore, let us in earth's life govern our worst propensi- 
ties and feelings. Let us cultivate only the best feel- 
ing, ever striving to subjugate those passions which 
bring us so much sickness and sorrow. Life is sweet 
if we only use it in a proper manner. If we live in 
harmony with those around us, and then if every one 



126 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

of us is doing rightly, and acting justly, we can have 
much happiness. The records of the Jewish religion 
teach us that they were forced to obey the law. They 
were threatened with punishment if they failed to do 
it, but were never taught to do good for good's sake. 
They were kept long under the laws of servitude, and 
their feelings of goodness were pent up in the soul. I 
hope my friend, that you may never fail to grow in 
harmony with this law, and then your future life will 
be prosperous and happy. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 127 



SPIRIT HOMES. 

May 24, 1873.— C. 

I hail this privilege with the greatest joy. The 
Scriptures are made to say that although one should 
come from the dead, thy brothers will not believe. 
Such was the conversation between the angel Gabriel 
and the rich man. This very remark should prove to 
mankind that a communication did exist, because if 
there had been no such thing as the dead conveying 
messages, no such request would have been made. 
This is but a prelude to what you will get. I wanted 
to describe our spirit homes to-day, that is, the family 
who once occupied this house. In the first place I 
will say that home is a word which always brings 
happy associations, that is if we had a comfortable 
home with friends and companions in earth's life. 

When a husband, wife and children are living to- 
gether, we call it home, and it has still many charm- 
ing associations when we die and go hence. 

The spiritual bo'dy also requires space to occupy and 
rest, creating the necessity for a home, while the very 
thought of immortality suggests a home. 

Thus one by one the different members of a family 
come here. They then meet together and establish a 
home, with every necessary arrangement for comfort, 
and their homes are ornamented to please the highest 



128 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

ideality of man. The house we occupy is transparent, 
large and roomy, beautifully adorned and decorated. 
We have the most beautiful paintings art or nature 
has ever produced, and will add this remark, that 
everybody does not have them because they do not 
appreciate them. To those who strive for intelligence 
and beauty, these things are necessary to meet the de- 
mands of their soul. The house in which we live stands 
on an eminence, and from the front we can see a long 
distance. It is a wide extended rolling landscape, 
looking north and east. It is beautified by fountains 
and flowers, and laid off in symmetrical walks. The 
flowers and foliage are of the greatest variety, while the 
notes of the singing birds are charming. On this lawn 
crowds congregate every evening to listen to the sweet 
music in the groves, or to such instruction as is given 
everywhere to elevate and improve. Sometimes I ad- 
dress them in the groves where we meet, not having 
any churches. Here we are always trying to gratify 
our most refined tastes, because we have no desire for 
anything that is gross. 

Our intellectual outgoing and incoming, and our en- 
joyment of all that is beautiful and elevating, is what 
makes our heaven. Our flowers here are more refined, 
having laid aside all that is crude. 

You can not realize this in your gross bodily form, 
it can be done only in your spiritual form. Oh so 
many are ruined in earth's life, because they never rise 
above the gross form, but are constantly feeding upon 
it. Your father intended to give this description, but 
we found it would be more acceptable to this family 
to come from me. 

We know the importance of this matter. We are so 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 129 

anxious for our relations to understand about our homes. 
We have eyes as natural to the spirit as those of yours 
are to the body. The learned man does not hold the 
law of God in his hand, nor at his fingers' end. In life 
we have a desire to learn what we can, and to gain 
ideas. We yet know but little about matter, medicine 
or sight, and the most learned physicians have not yet 
discovered what every part of the body is for. Scien- 
tific men do not hold infinite laws in their grasp, nor 
can they see this sublime life. 

Our home here is refined, and our associations bring 
the highest blessings the mind can conceive. Earth's 
hopes of heaven always fall short of its reality, for 
here the measures of man's expectations are more than 
realized. The soul is higher than man can reach, as 
much so as the sun is above earth, and so is soul life 
above earth's life. If one in earth's life is sick, we are 
there to benefit him if we can, but if his sands of life are 
nearly run, we calculate when we are to receive his soul 
and care for it, so that it will not be like the dust 
blown into some erevice or strange place. The soul 
has a tangible reception here by the members of its 
own family, and friends of theirs whom they may call 
together. If he was strongly animal, and obtuse in his 
ideas in life, when he first appears here he may be 
like a maniac, then if his own family have not the 
power to receive and control him, others are invited 
to assist them. A body which has been filled with 
medicine for years leaves its effects upon the mind by 
what is absorbed of its imperceptible particles. It is 
not then well balanced, and is not capable of an ex- 
alted feeling. So you have often seen medicine act 
upon the mind before any effect was shown upon the 
6* 



130 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

physical condition of the body. My family are in 
their homes close together, in a row near the grove 
which I have already described. The architecture of 
our houses is most beautiful. They have a grey ap- 
pearance like grey glass which casts different shades, 
and as you approach them can see all that is inside of 
them. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 131 



RECEPTION. 

June 6, 1873.— H. 

You read several communications to me at my 
shop. I wanted to come here to see this Medium when 
you came to receive them. Then I did not think the 
next time we met I should be invisible to you. 

Took the privilege to come to-day. Have been study- 
ing this subject a long time, but now T I see it face to 
face. (Is it different from your expectations ?) 

Not much. Got over very easy. My friend and 
brother Jesse came to receive me. Was glad to leave 
the old shell. It was nothing to regret. My short ex- 
perience here has not given me much information. Al- 
ways looked for it, wanted something more tangible 
than my own writing. Always did the best I could. 
I had no pain in leaving earth. Had I left my family 
better off I should have had nothing to regret. I loved 
my children, and wanted them to be raised up in the 
ppiritual faith. Could not reach my wife with it in the 
body, and it is useless to try it now. When I got tests 
of the truth of spirit communion, they were not tests 
to me. Was of a peculiar organization and could not 
value them. 

In the body we are not satisfied at first sight. There 
is something the mind can not grasp. When we get 
what we crave for, we look for something higher. 



132 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

(Immortality ?) Yes ! something above us, something 
more palatable to our existence. 

As soon as brother Jesse took me by the hand, I got 
all the tests I wanted. I suffered in the flesh as much 
as any man could with that scrofulous disease in my 
body and limbs. I lived to be a very good age. My 
mission was to be truthful and do the best I could. I 
have been repaid for it in my experience since I left 
earth's life. Every thing looks bright before me. Have 
met many genial friends whom I knew in earth's life. 
They came to greet me, and welcome me to a more 
harmonious home. As I told you before, my friend 
and brother came to meet me, and I was well pleased. 
Have only a few minutes to speak this evening. Hope 
to come back and give you evidence of my progres- 
sion. Have now got enough tests to satisfy me. Will 
tell you about my spirit guide w r ho controlled me to 
write in earth's life, and describe him some day. You 
know I always liked you first-rate. When I was taken 
sick, my wife was frightened, and sent for the first 
doctor she could get. Now I am glad I am over, and 
that you did not come to save me. Am rejoiced in the 
change. If my body could be resurrected to-day, I 
would not take it, there could be no inducement for 
me to do so. I was anxious for the change, was glad 
to leave off the connection between body and spirit. I 
bid you farewell, and hope to have something of more 
interest to tell you next time. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 133 



THANKS. 

June 6, 1873.— fly. 

I am pleased to come to you to-day. Here we 
move on gradually, not hurriedly. I am anxious my 
daughters should understand this phenomena. Hope 
still lingers around me that I shall yet be able to 
make them know me as truly as if on earth. I have 
a deal to say to you, but do not think I can say it to- 
day. One thing is, to thank you for your kindness 
while I was sick. You have given me many an hour 
of pleasure, and I would love to express all I feel. 
I often think I could say so much before I come, but 
when here can not. 

Every day I live here I learn something. Knowl- 
edge is not stopped by the change. The privilege to 
gain more is still mine, and I hope to improve this 
life far beyond earth's life. Your father is a dear, 
kind man. He has helped us all, and has given his 
magnetism to us to-day to assist us in saying a few 
words. 

It seems to me I have been away from you a long 
time, and yet 't is but a short time. I want you to 
give my love to my darling children, and tell them I 
am with them every night, and the saddest part of 



134 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

my life now is that I can not make them real- 
ize it. 

I see they have a great deal to do, but I hope, like 
true soldiers, they will bear their burden faithfully 
and honorably, and never shrink from any duty 
which points itself to them. 









ANGELS MESSAGES. 135 



EEWAEDS. 

June 6, 1873.— P. 

How hard we try to lift the vail which hides us 
from our friends. Day by day we seek some light 
which will reflect our image to the other shore. 

How the hopeful soul walks up and down meditating 
upon some new and mysterious knowledge which he 
may present to those who yet linger on earth's shore. 
Ah ! poor spirit, you have left your carcass to enrich 
the soil, while thy spirit here doth enrich itself by the 
love of angel life. You sit here and crave an oppor- 
tunity to send a word to thy children, that they, like 
the valley, the echo may catch from the mountain 
home. 

Poor little daughters, how thy papa watches over 
thee. He will caress thy downy cheek as it rests on 
the pillow. He would fan thy cheek with his angel 
wing, that thou mightest know he was near thee. 

Oh loved ones that sit at eventide and watch the 
clouds with shining edges, thinking of the loved ones 
which they seem to hide from thee. My brother, thy 
two friends, one with his pen, has tried to convince 
man that his politics were the best, and the other, with 
his scissors, has tried to prove that he could cut a coat 
to fit him best. So here we see the tailor and literati 
side by side, and with pen and scissors have they 



136 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

come to greet thee, a mutual friend. Kindness, truth- 
fulness and benevolence shall have their reward, 
though it comes from the spirit world. Had this poor 
man as much lungs as brain, he might have been 
with you yet a long time. He might have helped to 
dispel the clouds which hang over this republic, or to 
have blackened it as his mind was swayed by the ap- 
probation or prejudice of his friends. Poor H., who 
will write your obituary ? Can I say a word that 
will enlighten the world about your morals and cour- 
age ? You took your pen and wrote, by magic art, 
some verse which the world has not yet found to be 
great. You have left that old diseased carcass, and 
how proud you now walk. When man is borne from 
earth to a higher sphere, and meets the pure in spirit 
who are gathered there, how great is his joy. Earth 
has its treasures, and it also has sad disappointments. 
As we wend our way from earth's to a better life, 
may the footprints we leave behind serve to remind 
our friends that they should help our dear treasures we 
have left. Industry and honesty have their reward, 
and you, my brother, will find the just and good to 
welcome you, and give you assurance that your work 
was well done. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 137 



PROGRESSIVE LIFE. 

June 14, 1873.— S. 

My son, there has been so many crowding around 
that I have not had an opportunity to continue a des- 
cription of my travels. So few people know how to 
enjoy pleasure or make themselves happy, so we let 
others come and try to communicate. Am glad to see 
you looking so well to-day. much better than when 
you was last here. You was rather overworked, 
which is not well when we can avoid it, either men- 
tally or physically. Shall not finish my former com- 
munication to-day, as I want you to be less engaged, 
and want the road clear to myself, and not so many 
to interfere with the Medium's mind. I want to take 
another journey in July. It gives me great pleasure 
to go over those old places. (If I can not visit them 
in the body, will it be more pleasure to do so in spirit 
life?) Yes, you have more pleasure in spirit life. 
In earth's life you do not have the same chances, but 
more trouble and annoyances. I have been back to 
our old home, where you left me. Everything there 
has changed a good deal, and seems quite different 
from what it was when I was on earth. Time leaves 
her impress on all things as well as on man. 

One of the most beautiful laws in nature is the law 
of change. This should teach man that there is an 



138 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

immortality, that man is not stagnant, that he does 
not stand still like a post in the ground ; but that 
changes, because it will rot. 

I know of nothing which stands still. Know not 
why men think spirits continue to be the same as at 
the time the body dies, and that an infant or child 
remains the same forever. You have heard it stated 
that, "as the tree falls, so it lies." No, it does not 
lie there, even if it is not cut up and hauled off, for 
it decays and fadeth away. In the churches you hear 
them preach about an eternal hell. I want my chil- 
dren to take a step and learn better than that, it will 
be such a benefit to them. I want them to learn the 
truth as they will have to unlearn the false. Spirit 
life is progressive, and neither man nor woman re- 
mains the same any more than they do in earth's 
life. 

Our spirit life is daily shadowed forth in earth's life, 
thoughts, desires, occupations and pleasures. Some 
spirits have trouble; pure spirits do not. A great 
many here can not rise above the troubles of earth. 
They continue in them. Instead of going up higher 
they remain where they are for a long time. I intend 
to tell you of the diversified conditions of the spirit 
when it leaves the body. You have heard of haunted 
houses. These things are called superstition, but they 
are as much a reality as that the sun shines. Spirits 
are wandering around such places, and mediumistic 
people see them. A murdered man, if he was not 
an intellectual man, stays around that spot for 
years. 

When you cultivate the mind you gain happiness. 
Your pleasures advance as you increase in knowledge, 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 139 

purity and truth. Mediums see these strange things, 
but do not comprehend them, which will account for 
so many marvellous stories. In crossing the ocean 
we find, just above the wreck where the passengers 
and sailors w T ent down, many spirits who still remain 
there, and you can not persuade them away from that 
spot. You can not convince a member of the church 
that God is anywhere save in the church, and so he 
lingers around it, unless he has some intellect to help 
him away. 

I have been to many battlefields in this and in the 
old country, and have seen many soldiers' spirits wan- 
dering around there. I have been at their old camp 
grounds, and have seen them there doing duty, and 
going through dress-parade, and they seem to have no 
higher aim than to perform the same service they did 
when in the form. So with the members and de- 
votees to the church. They think when they come 
here they have got to go on forever singing and 
praying. 

I know a preacher who has been here forty years, 
who continues to harangue as in earth's life, talking 
of the judgment day and a burning hell for sin- 
ners. 

Many are still looking for Christ to come again, when 
they expect to enter with him into the New Jerusa- 
lem, the great city, whose streets are of gold and 
whose walls are of jasper and precious stones, when 
their work will be accomplished. I have talked to 
many of them, and told them I had visited other 
planets, but they believed me not, and said I was a 
fit subject for a lunatic asylum. Some people are 
very peculiar. Mr. H. is set in his ways. He would 



140 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

not give you any signs in Odd Fellowship, fearing 
other spirits should see them and learn them, so he 
would not divulge them. He has to study this Me- 
dium's brain, and he feared to give a sign through 
her, lest she should retain it, and it should come back 
to her again like a dream. Hardly any spirit can 
make a medium do and say what they want them to 
do. If you talk to a friend can he understand all 
you say ? Another mind does not receive a thing as 
you do, nor do any two people see alike, or would 
they describe any circumstance which both witnessed 
in the same way. The clearness with which we speak 
depends upon the force we are capable of exerting over 
the medium's mind, and of the different degrees to 
which we can excite different organs. This at one 
time maybe too much, and at another too little. * We 
want to instruct you and give you light which will 
benefit you. Through this Medium you will get dif- 
ferent phenomena, light about mesmerism and Spiritu- 
alism. 

In future, when you compare your notes, the present 
with the past, you will find you have gained a great 
deal of information. Since I first began, she has im- 
proved much, and her improvement is limitless. She 
shrinks from giving tests, and her clairvoyance makes 
her watchful about them, or we could give you tests 
innumerable. She wants you to take what she says 
without tests, and believe it, nor would she step to the 
gate to convince you. At first she was afraid to give 
tests, although she had many foolishly asking for 
them. 

In her earlier days, had she been immediately sur- 
rounded by a more intelligent people, and not those 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 141 

so promiscuous, her inind would not have taken that 
bias, and at this time we could have given useful 
tests. 

I will leave you now, hoping we will have a good 
time next Friday to ourselves. 



142 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT 

July 1, 1873.— & 

My son. You try to help those who help themselves, 
and there is nothing more noble. The breaking of 
that tumbler was done by an agency I can not now 
explain, but perhaps will be able when the class is 
developed. Your wife took away that powder, and 
it was to remind you how constantly she is with you. 
She will put it where you can find it some day to 
satisfy you she is present. 

We have to satisfy the mind about these little 
things. They are manifestations of love and regard, 
and we hope that people will soon be able to unravel 
these mysteries, as they do a ball of thread, when they 
get hold of the right end. We do many things for 
people to notice, that they may try to understand them, 
and look for the cause beyond something which is tan- 
gible. You can not enter a house where all is harmo- 
nious, without leaving an impression when you come 
away. We do not intend to go far out of the way to 
do such things for one individual, but for all. There 
are yet many great lessons to be learned. We have 
been children a long time. 

Earth's knowledge is very limited about immortality 
and the philosophy of the soul in connection with 
mankind. Our first object is to convince man, or give 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 14? 

him enough wisdom to draw his attention to man in 
the form and also out of it, and show him they 
can communicate together after they leave off the 
body. 

I will now turn back to the musty records of the 
past, as it has been some time since I have had an 
opportunity to discuss these subjects. 

I left off at Rome when speaking about the Pope. I 
see that the conditions are not any more settled now 
materially than when I was there. 

The Roman Catholic Church when it ceases to have 
a Pope, will be in a worse condition than was this 
country with Asiatic cholera. I proceeded through the 
great palace of the Pope. I heard his prayers, ob- 
served his forms and fasts, and when I compared them 
with the simple fact, it seemed as if I had entered the 
Arabian Night's entertainment, or saw with the mind 
of him who wrote that fabulous work. Oh how simple 
is our duty here ! Think of it, and yet a man could 
write a dogma for a church, and clothe it with all its 
rites, authority and superstition. As I looked around 
his palace, I asked myself what is all this for ? Why 
should one man stand with his foot upon the heads of 
millions, and oblige them to do all he requires of them ? 
Ah ! it is to attain to what he calls heaven. The Pope 
could not realize a heaven except it was like his palace, 
where he makes his subjects wait on him, and even 
carry him on their shoulders to church. 

There he sits with folded hands, and offers up a few 
prayers. His grandeur is obtained from his holding 
under his power the most ignorant people of earth. 
The Catholic laborer is more degraded than that of 
any other people governed by what we term enlight- 



144 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

ened Christianity. The Pope is the head of this great 
church, and the power which holds it together through- 
out Europe and America. 

It is the wealthiest and most powerful church now 
in the world, even more so than the English church. 
When this class whom I have described shall have re- 
ceived more knowledge, then they will require more 
freedom. Then they will cease to support the Pope, 
and he with his church will lose their superior power 
over them, and it will dwindle away. 

It is already divided, and it can never be fully united 
again. When such an immense body as that is shaken, 
and the head loses its pow T er over it, then its destruc- 
tion will be a great aid to the advancement of science, 
which is now spreading itself over the earth. It can 
not be sustained by arms, for knowledge will disente- 
grate it. Were it less scattered it might exist longer. 
The antagonistic elements of different nations will 
facilitate and hasten the crisis now hanging over the 
church, which is now entering upon its decline. All 
its temporal power is now weakened by its own inter- 
nal feebleness, and in a few years the present power 
of the Pope will cease to exist. Following and suc- 
ceeding that will be a falling of dynasties. 

Amid this confusion of churches and governments, 
there will arise one of the grandest governments which 
the world has ever seen. It requires a noble religion 
to establish a grand government. A religion of intel- 
lectual development, liberty of speech, and the un- 
folding of science of every kind. Rome and Jerusa- 
lem will figure very largely in this development of 
power. Eome will be the seat of learning, not to teach 
a dogma, but to teach the highest science the world 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 145 

contains. Jerusalem will be rebuilt. Its material ad- 
vantages of soil and climate foretell its freedom. It 
will be redeemed from its present degradation, and the 
tribes now there who are lost to all moral cultivation 
and intellect will pass away. This is the great mis- 
sion of this new theory of light. It is now spiritual, 
but soon it will be materialized to assist humanity. 

It is as high above the present belief as are ethereal- 
ized medicines above those which destroy. 

Mind is above those old teachings. There is an up- 
rising of thought, a training of mind to govern the 
world spiritually and physically. The government of 
Mexico is shattered like her mountains by earthquakes. 
The islands of the ocean are agitated, and scarcely a 
government now exists but what is wavering to and 
fro. There is nothing good nor grand in them. They 
are all lacking in the proper elements of truth, purity 
and honesty, which alone can make them endurable. 
The world is ripe for revolution, and it will be from 
ocean to ocean. I might go on the whole afternoon, 
showing the internal broils, restlessness and discontent 
of many small States. 

When men are fully developed in intellect and 
knowledge they will cease to be tools to sustain a mon- 
archy or a church. The one will cease to get a soldier, 
and the other a proselyte, two things the world does not 
need. We want intelligent men and women. We 
want them physically developed to bring into the world 
healthy children, and not such scrofulous ones as we 
now see. 

We want them to do away with meetings for prayer 
and fasting, to which they are obliged to go, be it cold 
or hot, wet or dry. We want them to have whole- 
7 



146 ANGEU3 MESSAGES. 

some food, as Moses taught his people to eat. We 
want woman to be admired for her beauty, her come- 
liness and kindness, and not for her diamonds and 
bright apparel. We want man to be honored and re- 
spected for his intellect, his honesty and his manliness, 
and not for his wealth and position. We then might 
have a people capable of materializing the things 
around them. The experience of the past few hundred 
years should be a lesson easily read. Follow the his- 
tory of any nation in their barbarous propensity for 
wealth, and their condition is a lesson in bold relief. 
In America, with all her rattling go-ahead, we see in- 
tellect, but it is thrown out too loosely to be a benefit 
to the whole race. We read of the grandeur of the 
Chinese empire, and from their history learn that it 
has been populated for centuries. Go there now, and 
you see the common people in the most depraved vice 
and ignorance. The world must learn to cultivate the 
mind and the heart at the same time. We must not 
feel that if a man has to labor he needs not intellect. 
No ! we want educated laborers. A cultivated mind 
is as necessary for man as a cultivated field is for 
grain. We talk of our fine stock, and always are 
trying to improve every class, and yet no one has 
been able to improve the human race. The world is 
now playing a game of grab, without regard to what 
use may be made of it. He who now possesses most 
is most thought of, without regard to how he came by 
it, or how he may dispose of it. I have digressed from 
my travels, to give you a lesson important for you to 
have. 

During my travels I saw many beautiful things about 
which I will tell you at some other time. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 147 

Yes, you have hard work, but you have met with 
the success of truth. People have to go through a 
crisis to learn many things. You are pretty stout and 
stood a great deal. You have made many friends, 
which is an important point in life. 

We all need the friendship of both man and woman. 
I was certain you would be successful here. One sure 
step is worth a dozen precarious ones. Every one has 
a right to happiness. No man or woman has any 
right to deprive or debar any one of happiness. Our 
affections are independent of the will. We can not 
will our affections to whom we please, although we often 
have good reason why we should. Your own heart 
will speak out, and you can not make a law to govern 
another man's heart any more than he can one to 
govern yours. The time will come when man will 
love woman above sexual interests. It takes the two 
sexes to make a whole being, as one man can not love 
another man. Men and women in one another's so- 
ciety, each feels a restraint, and this association makes 
man more suave and gentle. We are in heaven when 
we possess and have real -love. 

Nothing brings us more happiness than true love. 
I do not mean sexual passion, which has its place like 
eating and drinking, and we can no more rise above 
it than the bird can fly with cropped wings. Our 
highest aim should be to find that which is for our 
greatest good, and enjoy it, instead of abusing it. 



148 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



LOVE'S CHAMBER. 

July 11, 1873.— P. 

'T is the key we are seeking which will unlock the 
mysteries of earth. Oh ! can we not find it hidden, 
hidden in some dark secure place ? Is it a phantom 
which tempts us as we go along? Every lock we try 
seems difficult, and the key eludes our grasp. It hangs 
near the door, and as I try to seize it, it escapes 
from my hand. Love's chamber is locked, and where, 
oh where is the key ? Can we not find it, that we 
may enter there and regale ourselves in the luxuries 
of our feelings and give free scope to dalliance and 
pleasure ? Oh, that key is deep down in the heart, 
hidden from all outside humanity. Love's chamber is 
sacred, and can not be entered by careless feet nor pry- 
ing eyes, only in quiet solitude, by the one we love. 
How sacred are those moments ! How ecstatic those 
emotions ! No words can express that holy feeling ; 
no pen can portray that divine emotion. Then let us, 
oh loved one, enjoy in sacred solitude the highest feel- 
ings the mind can conceive. Let no cobwebs festoon 
that chamber. Permit the light of the beautiful even- 
ing star in the lofty ceiling of heaven to enter that 
sweet realm of bliss. Let us realize that we are more 
than flesh and blood; that there is within us unseen 
though it be an unfolding spirit. It speaks to our ears 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 149 

in unheard whispers, it is felt and realized by the 
highest, noblest attributes within us, far above the 
physical sense of touch or hearing. Oh, deprive us 
not of this heavenly manna, but let us partake of its 
sweetest perfume, and bathe our souls in its richest 
nectar. 'T is implanted and propagated in us by that 
divine agency which ministers to us in our highest 
unfoldings. Then let us not regret this sacred feeling 
nor crush this fresh, beautiful, budding flower. Let 
it yield up its rich and ripe perfume till we feel we are 
a kindred link with eternity. 



150 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



JUSTICE. 

November 2, 1873.— P. 

Justice sits enthroned in the divine unfolding of 
eternity. Millions stand at the bar of the great tri- 
bunal waiting to hear their sentence pronounced. 

Justice enthroned in the majesty of universal law. 
What generation can gather it and hold it in their em- 
brace ? Justice is a universal law that no age and no 
nation can control or hold in subjection. When they 
have gained one step in the right direction they may 
then think they have gained it all, but as we ascend 
the steps to that mighty throne of infinity, we see jus- 
tice beyond the ken of hundreds of generations that 
have passed away. Justice is so unlimited we can 
compass only a part of it, according to the knowledge 
we possess and have cultivated the principle, subject 
to that development. No people or nation can make 
laws to govern any other nation or people, or to gov- 
ern any of the nations who shall succeed them, and 
figure upon this planet. What can finite man do to 
control infinity ? Can he gather and control the winds 
and the seasons as they come and go with all their pow- 
erful influence on this globe? No! neither can he 
gather and control the development of mind, or subject 
it to any laws which he may enact. History records 
the rise and fall of many empires. Behold, they have 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 151 

all passed away, each to give place to another form of 
government better adapted to the wants and conditions 
of the then existing humanity. 

Is this question to be handcuffed, hoodwinked and 
enslaved by the ignorance, bigotry and superstition of 
past ages ? No ! you can not hold in subjection the 
uprising and advancement of intellect any more than 
you can arrest the awakening of spring clothing the 
earth in verdure. That law which we see going on 
through all nature is equally at work in the higher 
realms of animated immortality. Could the wisdom, 
or the wants of past ages control the planets in their 
orbits? No! finite man in no age could control 
them. Each has its own individual motion in its own 
circumscribed sphere, whose government and control 
rests alone in the grand tribunal of infinite justice. 
Man may stand at the bar of justice and absorb a 
small part of it, enough, perhaps, to awaken in him a 
desire for more, and to leave a memento which shall 
stimulate unborn generations to seek it, that they 
may succeed him. Youth comes forth, and in his 
vigor feels the necessity for action. He seeks for it 
a more advanced field than the one he already occu* 
pies. He looks for a humanitarian field where he can 
supply the wants and alleviate the distress of his 
fellow man. This youth, with giant intellect, can 
not be rocked in the cradle of the past any more than 
the spirit can enter again the carcass so securely de- 
posited in your cemetery. His progress is onward. 
He must create for himself and for his wants a more 
appropriate religion, with love and wisdom to be the 
compass which shall direct him. 'T is a mighty ocean 
of humanity, and many vessels, with colors flying, 



152 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

are floating on it. They are all intended to elevate 
the human race, and free them from tyranny and op- 
pression, from prisons, false trials and false laws. 

All laws governing man must succumb to the 
natural laws, which come from a high and boundless 
source. Light ! universal light from an undiminished 
source and power is the prayer of all who are inter- 
ested in the welfare and happiness of the human race. 
Let us awaken to this bugle sound, and respond to its 
call promptly and nobly. In the present condition 
of the Old and the New World we see great need for 
assistance to man. We see misery and degradation in 
every form. We see black and midnight darkness 
hovering where there should be peace and joy. Man 
scratches with his fingers in the moldering ashes of 
the past for wisdom, and he finds there gross injus- 
tice. We do not blame man for the laws he has 
made in the past. He could not at that time, any 
more than he can now, appropriate and use what he 
could not understand. Now, the capabilities of man 
are ready to understand. Then let us erect a temple 
where all brothers in humanity can partake of divine 
knowledge, of freedom of thought, and of an affection 
and desire to help and sustain all those beneath them. 

For this temple let us lay a deep, high and broad 
corner-stone, upon which the whole human race can 
build, a higher, nobler and better temple than man 
has ever yet conceived. Let us have a better faith, a 
purer religion, and then 'let our morality keep pace 
with it. Then we will have better laws, better gov- 
ernments and a happier race. 

The stream is not higher than its fountain, and the 
present religion and the present people are not above 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 153 

the religion and the people of the past. It has been 
useful to mankind, like the ladder by which the 
builder ascends to the top of his structure. We have 
ascended to the top of that past religion, and we will 
now have one higher, nobler and better. 

Man shall yet be a government to himself. He will 
yet be subservient to the highest and best uses of his 
fellow man, and of the whole human family. 



7* 



154 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



CENSUKE. 

November 9, 1873.— S. 

My son, never ask any one for their approbation, 
if they fail to recognize a noble act, theirs the fault, 
and not yours. Your friend here is an entertaining 
woman, and worthy of anybody's friendship. Aside 
from her mind and disposition, she is true-hearted, 
firm in purpose, and will pull the cobwebs to pieces 
in other minds. We must brush them out of men's 
minds as they do out of their houses. My son, you 
have been resolute, energetic and persevering, and 
have not yet reached your zenith. All persons have 
to meet obstacles. I know how keenly you feel mis- 
judgment, and how little respect you have for fickle 
people. The misfortune is that all persons have a 
standard of right, and think everybody else ought to 
be governed by that standard, so if you do not ob- 
serve their standard they censure you. There is nothing 
like moral freedom, it benefits its possessor, and it 
benefits society. If we all possessed it we would then 
have less troubles, less obstacles, and more happiness. 

In the earliest period of our life when we begin to 
exercise our minds, our first aim is for happiness, and 
through our whole life we try to accumulate every- 
thing we think can make us so. How far short we 
fall of accomplishing our desires, the world is always 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 155 

ready to judge. One said, " ask and ye shall receive, 
seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened 
unto you." If we seek knowledge we find it. Then 
why is happiness not found as easily as any other gem ? 
that is the question. Because we have not the true 
compass to direct our course. 

Mankind have never developed that faculty. Could 
the staunch ship battle with the elements without a 
pilot, or could he find his destination without a com- 
pass and chart. Man has never reached happiness, 
because he has not cultivated the principles which thus 
reward the mind. We may have the approbation of our 
own conscience, yet some one is ever ready to misjudge 
our acts. If society says those acts are wrong, we are 
soon shackled, and in place of being happy from doing 
right, by being misjudged we are humiliated. Society 
is a great ship, without a compass to direct, or a rud- 
der to steer it in the path of strict morals. If every 
one had that compass in their own soul it would pre- 
vent them from doing wrong to themselves or anybody 
else. Man to be happy must have a virtue above all 
acts of injustice to the world or to himself, and it must 
exist in his own soul. 

'Tis not passion which sways the mind for good, it 
is a pure and holy love blending in our souls which 
will produce happiness. A mean act, if found out, 
might degrade a man, so man is constantly fearing his 
friend and neighbor will see him in his true light, and 
he will then lose what the world calls his reputation. 
A reputation according to the rule of the world is 
easily gained, as it requires neither truth, honesty nor 
virtue. If you follow the standard of fashion, make 
a great display, give large entertainments, and invite 



156 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

in the fashionable people, give liberally to the churches, 
you are then a respectable member of society, and 
your reputation is not called in question. It is only 
called in question in plain honest people who walk 
straight forward and have no cloak of hypocrisy to 
hide their faults. This is a faint picture of what I 
see in your city. We will not depend on them for 
happiness, but shake the dust from our feet, and enter 
a higher realm of thought and wisdom, and try to 
pull from around us this murky atmosphere. I know 
many would be glad to drive you away, but we will 
see them when they do it. You will go when we are 
ready for you to go, and not before. You have 
friends here who are capable of taking care of you, 
and they will do it, so you need not bow down your 
head nor waver. 

'Tis human nature in its highest development to 
feel disappointed at false people. We do not like to 
have our idols torn down nor mutilated. Take care 
of yourself my son, and always do the best you can. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 157 



YELLOW FEVER. 

October 5, 1873. — Indi 

Make a heap of fuss. Can't see where the fever 
comes from. Know he got it; can't tell where from. 
Have been south, down in Texas and on the coast. 
If you go to Memphis you cure many. New practice 
cure most down there. Red man go with you. If 
you go no get sick down there. Red man never hear 
that kind sickness before. In wild woods no fever 
like that. White man bring it if it come here, It 
no come in the atmosphere ; come on the cars, if at 
all. Me been look at it. So fine you do not see it 
in the atmosphere. Same as cholera, but germ no 
look like germ cholera. You can't see the germ with 
your eye. Heap suffering and heap death down there. 
They 'so frightened they no got good sense. You go you 
cure a heap ; no have it, either. Plenty to take care 
of you. You want to go, it show great mind. Noble 
feeling to go relieve mankind. 

Noble impulse of the soul. You be took care of. So 
bright before you, bright road before you. Your 
father bring you heap information he come. He gone 
now, expect he be looking in planet. He look big 
things, red man look small things all over the country. 
See much suffering. Man no understand nature. Man 
think he lord of creation, so he is when he adapt na- 



158 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

ture herself, make subject to he. Must understand 
law of nature then he lawgiver. Must learn what part 
sick, then give plant he know, then plant cure. Me 
have no book like you. Me come see you, find you 
study big book, turn over leaves, then turn back. Do 
you know that time ? Whole company just come from 
nice spirit home. Your music friend here, she brings 
flowers. (I can't see them,) they are pretty. You 
white squaw do n't want you to go Memphis, in danger 
enough when you sick here. Says you have a nice 
little home, take care yourself. They all want you 
stay here. (I will stay then.) 






ANGELS MESSAGES. 159 



SLANDER. 

October 5, 1873.— & H. 

And how obedient you are not to go. The same 
kind, genial friend as ever. It seems like an age since 
I had an opportunity to speak to you. Must come to 
see and know something of you. Believe our spirit 
life would grow weary without coming to see you. 

We see a brighter time coming to talk to you. As 
soon as the mind of this Medium is calm, we will 
send you word. A great many good things are in 
store for you when you have leisure to receive them. 

The prospect for communion is growing better. All 
it needs is friends and resolution on both sides. 

There are hosts of spirits now around you. Few 
friends in earth's life can be called friends, 't is only 
while they are useful. Your enemy. Well, remem- 
ber her surroundings and her appetites. Look at her 
brothers with whom passion was all powerful, and 
whose thoughts could not rise higher. They never 
reached your standpoint in earth's life, and it will be 
a long time before they do now. 

There are many aged people who take pride in 
slander. There are many who kneel with their prayer 
books in their hands on Sunday, who are always ready 
to add a word, and repeat a tale of slander. There is 
retribution for all of them, and you shall not bear the 



160 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

blame of others. There are great things in store for 
you. We know you are above a mean act. When the 
world can not appreciate us, Ave must rise above it, 
and not let it poison our affections. In your own little 
home you can be happy. 

There are no weeping willows in the trees here. No 
pines for the wind to mourn dirges through. We have 
birds, flowers and every existing influence to prepare 
us for heaven. We now enjoy this life so much. 
Earth's life is a school of practice and example to 
teach us for this. In p lace of clouds and blasted roses, 
we have sunshine and fresh blooming flowers, watered 
from the fountain of truth, knowledge, hope and love, 
and these guide our life here. People who are actuated 
by selfish motives have no higher standard for others. 
Those only who have never known true love, cultivate 
feelings of envy and jealousy. 

Men and women in a family and out of it, must 
learn to love us for ourselves and our worth, and not 
for any advantage they may expect to accrue to them- 
selves by pretended love. We want you to feel that 
you have been baptized in light, and that there are 
beautiful angels around you who love you with the 
highest affection the soul can feel. 

We hope you may always be surrounded by this en- 
nobling, beautifying affection. Oh, that sweet mother 
of yours ! She never loved you when a baby better 
than she does now. She never had a brighter hope for 
your happiness than that which now wells up in her 
bosom. May we be able to tear away from you every 
conflicting element. 

May envy and backbiting be to you like the hissing 
of serpents, and may you realize that you are enthroned 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 161 

above them as high as the shining stars are above the 
earth. We will wave the flag of peace over your head, 
and you shall feel and know we are around you with 
all our aids and powers to assist you. May you be 
happy, and never feel you are lonely at any moment, 
and may a light go out from your tongue and your 
pen, a light from heaven w T hich shall be seen in every 
part of the earth. This is our sincere wish. (And no 
flattery?) No! I never flattered you, for you deserve 
it all. We have a right to encourage those we love, 
and to tear away the thorns which lacerate the flesh, 
and we all say we are fully competent to do that. 

How charming for you to realize you have ever done 
your duty, and now to know that some of us are with 
you every night, and almost every day. 



162 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



"A HEARTS EASE." 

November 7, 1873.— H. G. 

To-day I bring to you a heart's ease. May it ever 
stand in a vase ready for thy gentle soul to breathe 
its fragrance and thy loving eye to enjoy. Even the 
morning-glory in its beauty can not excel the gentle 
flower I bring to thee. The lovely camellia in the 
hot-house, though beautiful, has not the fragrance I 
would like for thee to enjoy. Night-blooming cereus ! 
too seldom do you awaken for us to behold thy un- 
folding power. Yes, thou dost wait until darkness 
shuts the day ere thy tender petals gently open one 
by one, and when the day dawns thy leaves wither, 
and thou art closed to open no more. Thou art as 
sensitive to light as the heart is to darts of malice, for 
it, like thee, seeks the silent night for solitude and the 
quiet seclusion we find when alone. Alone! oh, not 
alone, for surely angels are there with love and mercy 
to bind up thy broken heart, to heal thy wounded 
soul, and to refresh thy nature once more, and give it 
trust, and love, and hope. 

Oh, what would man be without some sweet angel 
to hover around him when broken hearted, when 
weary with life, and when he pines and feels he is 



ANGELA MESSAGES. 163 

without a friend ? Oh, may the curtain which hides 
us be lifted, and may you always feel that we are 
near thee, breathing holy and angelic love. Oh, I 
would not for worlds be without this hope and 
trust in the unfolding of eternal love and wisdom. 



164 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



NO CHRISTIAN COUNTRY. 

November 14, 1873. — Indian. 

This no Christian country ; they talk so. Your 
papa not here ; gone to bright sphere ; have big con- 
vention bright spirits. Bright spirits have big light, 
like sunshine. He come back at 5 o'clock. No Chris- 
tians here; they have war and kill folks. White 
man he no friend, but he talk nice. He no like red 
man. Me notice people in this town have plenty 
jewelry, nice clothes, ride in fine carriage. If you 
dress plain they no notice you. That gew-gaw ; no 
have brains on outside ! She knows much ; want to be 
nice when she come here. She won't have much to 
learn ; be way up in the sphere ; be happy, so pretty 
up there — flowers, birds, music, and everything nice. 
We want true men ; we no want false practice, no 
false religion imposed into society, it makes harm. He 
preacher got no true idea in the head. He read old 
books; he got no sentiment of soul. He no give light 
to the world ; he pull vail over faces, then he say he 
lead right road. He no right ; he not like big pio- 
neer, he come fell great trees, he build houses. He 
say red man no good Christian; he establish in red 
man's country and make a home. He live plain 
when first he drove off red man, now have luxury ; 
have big aristocracy, try to do like old country ; try 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 165 

be like them. Preacher he say what somebody say 
before him. He no get truth from intelligent spirit 
talk. He preach what make pay come in pocket. He 
no care for poor and distress. Not like red man in 
forest ; he see a friend in distress, he help him ; he 
carry venison and corn. Have such pretty churches, 
ladies wear nice glove, put in envelopes with money. 
Got no use for poor folks ; got no wine for them. 
Preachers say they no get to heaven, but he no got ike 
keys. Bad habit, take drink ; plenty saloons up tow r n. 
Red man drink all that he be dead. Christians curse 
all heathen what no like a dead God. Red man want 
imponderable, all-powerful one all over the universe 
to worship. Here comes your papa. He be bright 
as sunbeam. Good-bye. 



166 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



OLD GOVERNMENTS AND OLD CREEDS. 

November 14, 1873.— S. 

My son, did you not get tired waiting for me? 
(No! red man said you would come at five.) 'Tis a 
long time since I had an opportunity to converse with 
you. Am glad to see you looking so well. Have 
seen a great many things new and beautiful to me. 
Have been looking into the systems of old govern- 
ments. Have watched their progress and that of hu- 
manity and Christianity, and find they are like an old 
carriage wheel, will wear out and break down. So it 
is with old creeds — they will carry to a certain epoch, 
then the mind rises superior to them. There is now 
a supreme uprising of intellect. The mind of man 
was never more prolific than at the present time. Old 
things are passing away, and all things are becoming 
new, is true both of this and the Old World. As 
mind is superior to matter, so will mind in the future 
be superior to the present. The minds of the nine- 
teenth century have outgrown old governments and 
old religious creeds. 

New and beautiful ideas are floating about. Spirit 
messages are wafted to earth, in harmony with pro- 
gressive humanity. Those beautiful ideas are blend- 
ing together in men, women and children, whose 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 167 

minds are becoming ready for this great truth. Yes, a 
great change is going on, and this light is making 
such rapid progress. Humanity is tired of eating 
crumbs which fall from the rich man's table ; or I 
should say, crumbs which fall from the priest's table, 
or that on which they are fed by priestly authority 
or dictum. Yes, humanity are now seeking heavenly 
manna, which is being sent to them by kindred and 
friends. These friends once lived with them, and 
have had the experience of earth's life, and have 
passed through that change called death. Our tomes 
are not far away, and the barriers between them are 
not so great but we can return and bring to them this 
manna, or these ideas and truths from the spirit world, 
a food so well adapted to the progressive minds of 
this country. They know the past, and by experi- 
ence have gained some knowledge of the future. They 
are breaking the shackles of priestly control, and are 
bringing messages of love and truth to those who are 
honest enough to receive them, or who have an unbi- 
ased judgment, one that is free from all prejudice and 
sectarian bigotry. Figuratively speaking, I would 
say that heavenly trees are filled with divine fruit, 
whose beauty is reflected to earth. Truth is mightier 
than man, sharper than a two-edged sword, and it 
will mow down every obstacle in the way of its pro- 
gress. We will lay the foundation, a corner-stone of 
that temple of which your brother spoke so beauti- 
fully, where the brotherhood and sisterhood of man- 
kind can meet together in harmony. A temple so 
large that it can contain the whole human family, 
where they can offer up their highest tribute of love 
to this divine unfolding spirit, and receive that sacred 



168 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

knowledge and love which shall bring the whole hu- 
man family together in peace and harmony. 

The prophets of old saw angels measuring their 
temples with lines. Ours shall be immeasurable, be- 
cause universal. We will have therein no sanctum 
sanctorum, because all shall have a correct knowledge 
of the true God. We shall then need no priests to 
minister at the altar, or come between man and his 
Maker, for all shall know him, from the least even to 
the greatest. Then we shall be more cultivated in in- 
tellect, and all those who approach this heavenly 
shrine to offer up a pure love shall be constantly 
elevated. 

Then shall we possess that knowledge and feeling 
which will enable us to treat one another kindly, deal 
honorably and honestly, and have no hidden motive 
for any of our acts. Then in truth we shall be free. 
Then if a brother errs we will be ready and willing to 
forgive him without punishment. When all shall 
enter this temple of truth and love, understand its 
teachings and follow them, we will then need no 
more dungeons, carnal-minded judges and jurors to 
pass sentence of guilt or pronounce a verdict upon 
any human being. Then we shall know as we are 
known. Then will the mind be so clear that man can 
penetrate man's innermost heart. Then will man 
have no desire for pomp and show that plebians and 
laborers may bow down before him, because of his 
grand appearance, for it shall be obliterated. 

We have known many prophets or seers who held 
commune with higher spheres, and from what they 
thus learned of the progress of truth and wisdom pre- 
dicted a millennium. It is approaching, not medi- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 169 

ately, but in a few centuries, when a race who then 
shall people this planet will be able to sustain it, and 
when man shall be competent to govern with human- 
ity, impartiality and honesty. Then man will not di- 
rect the affairs of men from a selfish standpoint, as he 
now does, bending everything for his own private 
good. Man himself alone can make the position he 
occupies dignified and grand, and not the people who 
are looking on and supporting him. A king, a presi- 
dent, and, I might add, a priest, are all rulers in dif- 
ferent stations, the one physical, the other moral. 
Mankind are diverse in their dispositions, education and 
surroundings, and their wants are equally diversified. 

A king, therefore, can not justly judge a beggar, 
for he has never been in his condition. He then can 
never know what made the poor man break the law 
of his realm. He himself never felt hunger, therefore 
can not know what it will prompt a man to do. 

X either can a righteous priest say why some mem- 
ber of his church stole, or broke what he calls the laws 
of his church. A priest surrounded with all the com- 
forts and luxuries of life can not judge justly the un- 
educated man who is without knowledge and the priv- 
ileges of society, and even without the necessary food 
to satisfy hunger at the time he steals. Who can tell 
what were the conditions and surroundings that poi- 
soned any man's mind and tempted him to do what 
the world calls evil. Yet this man is drawn up before 
the church and tried, and they decide what his pun- 
ishment shall be according to their measure of justice. 
Thus we see judging goes on through all grades and 
conditions of society. Everybody is ready to judge 
without knowing the cause which prompted the act, 



170 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

or even if it be true, and never for a moment stop to 
search their own hearts to see if they themselves are 
without blemish. Thus in society, from the highest to 
the lowest, are we drawn up and tried for our thoughts, 
words and acts, and then sentence is pronounced. 

If I was in the flesh, I would as soon condemn a 
man for not knowing mathematics, who has never 
learned a rule in arithmetic. We pity the man who 
can not see the light which shines so beautifully 
around him. 

We see people educated in a certain channel who 
never go out of it, even when they could gain knowl- 
edge which would be of great benefit to them. This 
class, both old and young, it is important we should 
educate. In erecting a church, the architect is par- 
ticular to have the building so shaped that both 
preacher and singers can be distinctly heard by the 
congregation. 

The painter lets in the light on his picture from 
that direction which shall show it to the best advan- 
tage. So let us have the light from all points regard- 
ing Christianity and morality, life and death. If 
there was no life there could be no death or change. 
I know some object to this term, death. I would say 
not literally dead, but dead to that condition. Let 
us analyze every idea presented to us, and let the 
chaff go to the wind. If it was not for the chaff the 
grain would not be so good. Everything has its 
place, and it is adapted to that place. Human be- 
ings no longer want bread with chaff in it, because it 
is too indigestible for them. So with old theological 
ideas, they are how indigestible to the educated 
mind. The teachings of Christ were of great benefit 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 171 

to mankind. He did not dictate that all who fol- 
lowed not him should be martyred, nor that any man 
should be forever held to one and the same religion. 
He did not hide his light under a bushel, but placed 
it where all might see its rays, and be gathered in by 
him and his apostles. Everything is essential in its 
place, as is that light for you to see your pencil and 
form the words. 

The Christian is continually talking about the 
heathen. He never pauses to consider that all are 
heathen who are encased in their own souls, keeping 
and hindering them from the influx of truth. Each 
denomination claims that theirs is the greatest devotee 
to Christianity, and yet none of them have ever added 
any light to the world. They are always turning the 
same old crank. They tell you of Christ and him 
crucified for the redemption of the world; speak of 
Pilate's judgment, of Judas' betrayal, of Jewish accu- 
sation and of Koman authority as being the only 
divine truth, and the only theory of salvation in 
creation. This has come down through many gen- 
erations, kept and conveyed through priests. 

They forget how many prophets lived during past 
ages, under different forms of governments, and of the 
powers which they possessed in their times. At their 
time of the world nations had but little education 
and knowledge, even so little that we of this age call 
them heathen, and yet they had their prophets, their 
Christ and their Mahomet. In this we see a great 
truth. The more free men and women are from so- 
ciety and priestly control, the greater is their oppor- 
tunity to see and learn the truth ; then the brain is 
inceptive. 



172 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



MALICE. 

November 21, 1873.— J 7 . 

It is not outward manifestations that assure us of 
friendship, but an inward blending of our feelings which 
can not be broken by the prejudice of others. I have 
seen and felt these breakings of friendship and absence 
of true regard for me when in trouble. 

Envy and malice is no respecter of persons. When 
I occupied a position in the church, I ministered to all 
to the best of my ability, and according to the light 
I had received by constant culture and thought. My 
doctrine was new to most of those who heard me. It 
was not comprehensible nor acceptable to preachers, 
and did not suit them, because it was not dogmatical. 
It was new, and they could not make its truth suc- 
cumb to them, so they attacked and tore down my 
reputation, and in their indignation felt, no doubt, 
they were doing the church service. They continue 
to do the church service when they hold man in bond- 
age to old dogmas. They could not preach anything 
save heaven and hell, rewards and punishments, and 
their minds have not grown above that yet. My brother, 
beware of false tongues. St. Paul said beware of false 
prophets. The world is full of people who are always 
trying to blast the reputation of others, and to destroy 
their influence for good. I feel for you a devoted friend- 
ship which nothing can change. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 173 

You seek to do good, you sympathize with the un- 
happy and distressed, and try to elevate them, and you 
are slandered for it. Malice, you have your oivn reward. 
I hold no ill will in my heavenly home, but pity my 
slanderers from the innermost depths of my soul. Here 
is a large field of labor which will yield a rich harvest. 
Let us pioneers not shrink from our duty. It is a pri- 
vilege for us to sow the seed without seeing what we 
shall reap. You may not gather the blossoms upon 
this field, but still you will cultivate it, and some of 
the seed you now sow will find a genial soil. I see in 
the rainbow of heaven progression, eternal progression 
to the people of this city. These rocky heights shall 
not be a barrier to the progressive march of humanity. 
They must awaken to the bugle notes of our spirit 
home and chime in. They must join in notes of praise 
that a light so beautiful, so dazzling, is hung by angel 
hands to cheer their pathway through their earthly ex- 
istence. How many of thy kindred have left, and their 
bodies molder to decay, but where goes that mind ? 
Where is thy mother, thy father and brother ? Has 
man power to forget them ? Has he no interest in 
the home of these loved ones ? 

Will his reason not arouse and cause his soul to in- 
quire if they go away, why they can not return ? 
Think of the agonies of death, and then a separation 
forever. 

What mother, even were her son a monster, could 
feel content with him in hell ? Will her prayers of 
selfishness, though she was in heaven, give her eternal 
bliss ? Am glad, my brother, to find in you one who 
was raised up in freedom and right. May the banner 
of peace wave over thy head. Good night. 



174 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



LETTER 

November 23, 1873.— M. 

My own dear husband, think of me as you once 
thought, when we first entered upon life together. Our 
interests are still undivided. My only pleasure in life 
was when with you, and my hope still is that you feel I 
am yet with you. I feel keenly the accusations and 
disappointments that have stabbed you so deeply, and 
that you now feel there is no future in life to encourage 
you, and invite you to linger on that shore. May that 
which buoyed you up in youth and early manhood not 
forsake you now. It is so important for you, and for 
our children which we brought into existence, and 
raised up with our tenderest care, surrounding them 
with all the comforts it was possible for us to give, or 
necessary for them to have. You know that a few 
times in life I have felt some of its privations, and also 
during our Southern exile. But what was that to me 
when you was with me ? I would have suffered ten 
thousand times more if it had been necessary. In your 
efforts to secure for and supply everything for our 
children, you never in your life equivocated about nor 
shirked any responsibility, and now, least of all, should 
you do it at this particular time? Every dark cloud 
has a silver lining, but your earthly visions are not yet 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 175 

able to penetrate it, and see the beauties beyond, gar- 
nered up for you in a well-spent life. You have yet 
much to be thankful for. Let your honesty and in- 
tegrity be the shield and helmet to ward off any malice 
or poisonous insinuation the world may cast upon you. 
Think of me in my beautiful spirit home, with our 
dear little boy, behind this dark cloud. 

Think of our own dear children there with you. If they 
fail to understand you, 'tis not all their own fault, but 
owing to their own culture and the surrounding so- 
ciety. They have not been able to develop the finer 
sensibilities of the soul, which alone can pierce the 
conventionalities of life, and penetrate to that deep 
sanctuary of your own soul. Thus you see in my 
death, was your resurrection from all those old ideas 
we used to talk about — -to a full realization of the 
communion of the departed with those who remain in 
the body. Then, too, our children, dear creatures, will 
yet have some grief to mourn over, that they too may 
realize the divine link which still binds their sainted 
mother to all she has left behind. 

Let not that realization be brought to them by your 
departure. Again, gird on the armor of hope, that 
true anchor of the soul which shall carry us all over 
the billows and stormy seas of life, and land us in a 
haven of rest, where we shall meet those who have 
gone before us, in a real home. Then we shall be com- 
pensated for what seemed to us terrible disappoint- 
ments in life. Yours forever in true love. 



176 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



GOVERNMENTS. 

November 24, 1873.— 8. 

My son, I spoke to you in my last conversation of 
governments in Europe and in this country, feeling a 
deep interest, and have always done so, in mankind, at 
the same time knowing that the happiness of a people 
depends upon a wise government, and, I might add, 
a liberal religion. You can not create thought in 
another man, consequently no man or set of men can 
control the religious opinions of any nation or race. 
He may give his ideas, but others will always clothe 
them with their own experience, consequently they will 
not be the same ideas. In looking over the history of 
the past, we see that no government has been permanent 
either in our own time, or in the most remote period to 
which man has yet penetrated. 

Like the shifting waves of the ocean, so is humanity, 
ever restless, because continually giving off and taking 
on. Time is the arbitrator between the old and the 
new. A prophet has said, all things shall become new, 
that is new to those who heretofore had not realized 
their existence. No arbitrary power can hold man to 
the same opinions he may have received from the past. 
We are gathering new material in every change, like 
nature constantly taking on new creations as we pro- 
seed on from the adamant. From the same fountain 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 177 

the prophets realized the creation of six days. This 
generation has never fully understood that grand ac- 
count of the creation contained in the Bible. 

As light is constantly coming in, in a purer form, 
and man is growing wiser, with all his conditions ex- 
panding, so must governments broaden for the benefit 
of man. Man was not made for governments, but 
they were made for man, and should always be the 
highest, freest and best adapted to all classes of hu- 
manity. From every standpoint we see to-day a gradual 
opening for good beyond the terrible crisis, which 
should give courage and hope to the people of the 
nineteenth century. The wintry blasts of superstition 
and bigotry have frozen up the springs of spiritual life 
in humanity, but there is a sun of truth which shall 
burst those icy shackles, and a coming spring which 
shall liberate the better feelings of man, and free him 
from priestly dictum and kingly authority. Man must 
look for this divine unfolding, not through atonement, 
not through persecution and bloodshed, but through 
divine moral attainments, gained by the self-evident 
fact that man is at liberty to get knowledge from God, 
the universal fountain of all knowledge. He must not 
be made the subject of church nor State. Man is spir- 
itually responsible for every act of his life, and he must 
not be swayed, nor permit his mind to be deceived by 
public opinion. He must cultivate his intellect, but it 
must be subject to principle. Humanity has been 
rocked in the cradle of the ancients long enough, and 
have worn the swaddling clothes of kings and priests, 
until they have become tatters and rags. They are of 
no use longer to a free-born race who recognize t their 
individual rights to a higher destiny and aim than 
8* 



178 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

priestly authority. Man must accept truth, feeling 
its echo deep down in his own soul. I know a man 
often asks how he may know the truth. Because it is 
spontaneous. Hypocrisy and lies are false, and have 
no existence only as man panders to priest and king 
for the titles of earth's life, which when received do 
not serve him like the foliage of the forest trees, for 
it enriches the earth when it decays. When man con- 
stantly lives in poverty of spirit truth, and so enters 
spirit life, he is as bare as the tree in winter stripped 
of its foliage by the hoar frost. Here there is no 
glitter and gewgaw of earthly robes and titles to hide 
the deformity of crime which has dwarfed that spirit, 
and molded it into every form of hypocrisy and cor- 
ruption. Hence man is not redeemed by faith alone, 
but by the practice of truth in its highest moral 
sense. No king or ruler, therefore, has a right to 
dictate what or how his subjects shall worship, or 
what faith they must believe. No potentate ever lived 
whose mind was pure and free enough to dictate a 
religion for common humanity. 

Religion being a natural principle of the soul, man 
would never desert his Christ, nor crucify his God, if 
left alone and free to enjoy the religious boon a crea- 
tive Deity has implanted within his own spiritual 
nature or soul. Kindred lives express the same idea. 
Man being the offspring of creative intelligence, of a 
divine power from an inexhaustible fountain, it must 
necessarily follow that he is to have a noble end. The 
physical life is essential, because coming from Deity, 
and because angelic life comes from the preceding con- 
dition of man. 

Man then should not struggle for fame and money, 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 179 

for his probation in humanity is but a universal good, 
and because the one condition is necessary to the other. 
As I before said, death could not be without life, 
neither could there be spiritual life without an earthly 
existence. Humanity, from the grey-haired sire to 
the tiny infant are candidates and journey ers toward 
death or spirit life. Death to them is life beyond the 
Jordan as Christians sing, and a figure which I accept. 
Whatever may have been their creed or opinion, station 
or government in life, we find them upon this shore 
of immortality stripped of creed, of title, and all the 
paraphernalia of life. Their own acts alone are left to 
unlock the Temple door which is not left to Peter 
with his ponderous keys. I use the Temple door in a 
figurative sense, because we can not portray many 
things to the mind without figures. Christ and his 
apostles used figures of speech, while John said, "in 
my Father's house are many mansions." We find in 
this Temple of Immortality all kinds, from the lowest 
and most imperfect to those of the highest condition 
which man's mind is capable of conceiving. I have 
followed man thus far to show him he was not made 
for governments, but for a higher, nobler and better 
condition. Here I have never found a temple, a king 
nor a throne. Let us now go back to earth's life. I 
never saw a religious devotee, but who thought he 
would be near the throne, and yet he had lost sight of 
the necessary conditions to obtain this exalted place — 
namely merit. A few years since Napoleon was upon 
the throne of France. Children can remember the 
bloodshed and slaughter of that people. 

Who could count the number of women and children 
in that country who have been starved for the ambi- 



180 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

tion of two monarchs ? If blood could atone for 
crime, Napoleon has shed enough to atone for all 
crime. A ruler declares war for the honor of his 
country, if there be honor in war, a question, which 
has never been so decided by any scholar who has 
analyzed it. It is time humanity was awakening to 
this question. Napoleon, after his earthly career, 
came into spirit land. Where now is his throne? 
Did it appease his death ? or does war appease public 
opinion, or bring a better condition to a nation ? Did 
it bring a better condition to France ? No ! for we 
see as much dissatisfaction, disloyalty and want of 
patriotism now as ever. 

Head the speeches of those great Lords. We 
learn from them that it is not incumbent on 
these great men to reflect upon or care for the condi- 
tion of the paupers, destitute mothers and fatherless 
children of their own country. No ! they only look 
after and take care of the financial condition of the 
country, as that can be seen by other powers who may 
be dyed in crime as deeply as themselves. What has 
' Germany gained by her war, by the valor of her 
soldiers, who have been lauded by the whole, I 
came near saying Christianized world ? as we claim all 
others not so believing are heathen. But, search 
throughout heathendom, and you can not produce a 
more blood-thirsty war than the recent one between 
Germany and France. I should like to know under 
what rule this nation, which occupies so small a space 
in comparison to the globe, is recognized as a great 
power. We will not speak of the islands of the ocean, 
where man should be free from the monarchies of 
continents. But the winds and the waves of ocean 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 181 

stay not the ambition of man. What limit, or is 
there any, to the ambition of man in his thirst for 
temporal power ? From what is called the Old Coun- 
try we see emigrants taking strides across the ocean 
to the New. Relying upon the mother country was 
the sole cause of their early failure. 

Not so with the army who crossed the Dnieper, for 
they then destroyed their boats. It is all important 
for man that he should understand himself and his 
own worth, and also his alliance with this condition, so 
that when the planks which bring him over shall float 
away, he may feel and know that then he is responsi- 
ble to none but God. When he realizes this funda- 
mental truth, he will have gained the first step in self- 
control, or self-government. He who can not govern 
his own beastly appetites, and has no compass in his 
own moral nature, can not govern his fellow-men. 

Every periodical we now take up is constantly pan- 
dering to man's tastes and appetites, to his wealth and 
position, regardless of principle. Children are culti- 
vated to pride, egotism and hypocrisy. They are 
taught to feel that they are of more worth than another, 
if better dressed. Youth grow up and enter College, 
and are there taught ambition, or how to proceed ac- 
cording to some popular theory, while how to do 
right is often left out of their instructions. They must 
be governed by public opinion, or that which is ac- 
cepted by society. But what is society ? A few in 
every class who claim the exclusive right and power 
to direct the masses. This they do for self-aggrandize- 
ment, and we soon learn what society becomes when 
run in their selfish channel, and are servants to their 
ideas. 



182 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

I say America and her people are no more free to- 
day than France was when she entered into a contest 
with Germany, which so soon ended by the loss of 
her Emperor. 

In my next I hope to speak of this government, and 
see if we are free, and what that freedom is worth. 
This is an important question for this generation to 
solve, and the sooner it is done the better. It is all 
important now to learn real worth from spurious 
dross, which holds one man superior to his fellow- 
man. Let us search in the past, in the Old World 
and the New, for the broken links which bind hu- 
manity in one brotherhood. If we search beneath the 
volcanic lava which covers so many cities that were 
once so beautiful, we will find there evidences of 
civilization that existed long before a Judea or before 
Christ was born. This generation, digging in the 
ashes of the past, may bow in humility, and feel that 
they are not the greatest race that ever existed, nor 
are they in advance of them, for they filled their age 
and destiny. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 183 



SERPENT INTELLECT. 

November 30, 1873.— P. 

Some time ago I promised to give you a few ideas 
about the woman and the serpent. We see woman 
all buoyant in youth and beauty, standing out in the 
morning light of creation, inviting all nature to ad- 
mire her. Then comes the masculine or creative 
power to embrace this beautiful woman, and from 
this love embrace we see the world peopled with the 
offspring of love. Why, oh why does this serpent in 
his shining coil come to bring death? Temptingly 
does he speak to the woman, in a language the soul 
alone can understand. Oh, 't is like intellect blend- 
ing in the acts of mankind, this serpent plucking the 
fruit that unborn generations may yet feast upon. If 
not for the tree of life and knowledge in Eden who 
to-day could enjoy the privileges of a civilized race ? 
If there had been no serpent intellect in woman's 
brain to hope for knowledge what could have inspired 
her to pluck the apple from the lofty bough and give 
it to man ? He, too, partook, and then there was a 
union of knowledge as bright and shining as the 
serpent's skin, which blended in harmony with life. 
If not for the serpent intellect, would not mankind 
to-day have been like the beast of the field, and have 
gone out to eat grass, like the King of Syria. 'T is 



184 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

not in. palaces that thought is born, but in the nude 
state of nature where mankind partakes of the fruits 
planted by the genius of intellect. By this does she 
govern electricity, which now binds continents to- 
gether. By this does she control the steam-girded 
horse that bears the commerce of continents for the 
welfare of humanity. Yes ! the infant of knowledge 
rocked in the cradle of the East has now grown to 
manhood, and walked the waters to people the AVest- 
ern Continent. So shall its powers traverse northern 
seas, and onward move until the world is united in 
one grand harmony, neither separated by the ice and 
cold of the north, nor withered and scorched by the 
suns of the torrid zone. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 185 



FREEDOM. 

November 30, 1873.— S. 

My son, we will shake hands to-day across the line. 
There must be a substance or there could be no 
shadow. As I propose to speak of law to-day, re- 
marked there is no shadow without a substance, so 
there is no spirit without mortality. A poet has said 
a rose would smell as sweet by any other name, to 
which I will add, if we are free enough to enjoy its 
fragrance. If there is so much in a name, it is high 
time we should investigate the fact, and learn what it 
is that gives importance to a name. Have used the 
word name here in place of substance and shadow. 
If all law is allied to substance only, then why is the 
shadow left out as if a vapor and useless ? 

People now profess a great deal. If profession is 
essential, then, to carry out the figure, acts are more 
essential, because profession is the shadow, and the 
acts are the substance. Now, if I believe in Chris- 
tianity, you see there a name. Something must be 
allied to that name by which, in my acts, I better 
myself and my associates. If I claim to believe in a 
divine law, according to that belief I must carry out 
in my practice what my faith claims for that law. 
If I claim to be a free man, and to be controlled only 
by that divine law, I am free only to that extent I am 



186 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

governed by and keep that law. There is not what is 
termed universal freedom for any one man, and if not 
for one man, there can be none for the masses. Now, 
what is moral law? That is a stumbler, and who 
can explain it ? I may give you my idea what it is, 
a brother may give you hiSj but they, being different, 
do not satisfy the masses, who can not reconcile them. 
Men meet together, it may be a hundred or more, to 
enact laws and make a code, I will say for Tennesssee. 
Now, a code of law is not one man's ideas alone, but a 
combination of ideas coming from different men of 
diverse interests and feelings. Now, when these men 
came together and made these laws, did they adapt 
them to the highest welfare and best interest of every 
individual in Tennessee, or have they made laws to 
suit their own particular set of men, their immediate 
supporters, whose interests might have been in rail- 
roads, or banking, or commercial pursuits? 

If they made laws for these classes, they are neither 
free men nor free legislators. Were these men capa- 
ble of making a code adapted to the best interest of 
every citizen of Tennessee ? If so, why is it necessary 
to have a set of courts from day to day, at such an 
enormous expense, with so much power lodged in 
judge and jury to enforce those laws? If this code 
is the wisest and best those legislators could make, 
and it is adapted to the welfare of every citizen, why 
does it become necessary to have a judge and lawyers 
employed to define those laws and settle every matter ? 
Would not every man be more willing to accept the 
decision of a wise judge than to expend thousands in 
lawyers' fees to use abusive language and every possi- 
ble argument to produce an impression upon the 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 187 

rabble, and to defeat their opponent. Any impartial 
man ; or could one come from another planet, morally 
higher than this, he could not fail to see in this code 
and the course of procedure in trying these cases 
under it, ignorance and selfishness. According to a 
few dictators, who are considered authority in these 
matters, and from their standpoint this is considered to 
be right, because it is law. The people of Tennessee 
never stop to inquire who made this code, nor what was 
the controlling influence of those minds who made 
those laws, but bow to them in abject submission. 

You see, therefore, that the people of Tennessee are 
not free in the simplest sense of that word. You pay 
taxes, and employ lawyers, and thus it turns on the 
same point year after year. Some claim the negro is 
capable of the franchise, and so he may be in one sense 
of the word. But let us begin at the bottom round of 
the ladder and ascend. The negro being a citizen of 
the United States, he, therefore, claims a right to vote, 
and I will not deny him this right. Think you that 
every man would vote as he does now, if he was free 
from bias, party shackles, and personal obligations, or 
if he was not bought? Ko ! hence he is not capable 
of voting justly and honestly, and when he fails to do 
that he is a traitor to his own capabilities, and the 
slave of another. If then he proves recreant to his 
capabilities, the franchise to him is a curse instead of 
a blessing, and an injury to his country. I see doctors, 
lawyers, teachers and men from the highest to the 
lowest grades of intellect influenced to vote by selfish 
and illegitimate motives. 

They, therefore, are no more worthy a vote than the 
slave but recently emancipated, and who is controlled 



188 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

by the same selfish motive. So if teachers of divinity 
are not free and honest, guided by the divine law of 
love within them, but are governed by selfishness and 
ambition for popular position and favor, they are no 
more capable of teaching morals than the negro is, who 
is actuated by the same impulses. 

We want to find what freedom is, and show to man 
that his right to freedom is only in degrees. 

A man born to exist forty years, can not live all 
those years in one day, because there is no way in which 
he can circumscribe a life of forty years into a period 
of twenty-four hours. It is equally impossible for 
man in his limited condition and knowledge to accept 
and have universal freedom. 

Let us then cultivate freedom in its highest sense, 
and accept it as we do the morning light, when we 
awake refreshed by sleep. Again, I ask what is free- 
dom ? If you had discovered a remedy which would 
surely cure a certain malady, but a remedy that popu- 
lar prejudice condemned, and ignorance, who often sits 
enthroned in high places, robed in purple, claims the 
right to say you shall not use it, because she has the 
power — now you are free in this one particular so far 
as you continue to use that remedy, knowing it to 
be right, and are free from popular control, but no 
farther. Let us now apply this freedom to the moral 
law. If you find a better law to govern humanity, 
one better adapted to the wants and happiness of all 
the people of this country, but that law when promul- 
gated is rejected because unpopular, you become a slave 
to public opinion to the extent you reject that law, and 
you are free only so far as you accept and adopt that 
law. Now, if this law be the best for a few, why is it 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 189 

not also best for the whole ? If it is best for all men 
to vote, and also best for the country and himself for 
the negro to vote, why is it not best for women to 
vote ? If the ballot is so essential for the welfare and 
happiness of the citizens of this country, then in God's 
name give it to all your citizens who are old enough 
to vote. Why should there be any restriction by law 
to prevent any citizen from such a great benefit, and 
so much happiness, as the right to vote. Ah! 'tis not 
popular for woman to vote, says prejudice on her throne, 
and my opponent adds, I can not see any good in her 
voting. Who can see any good before it is produced ? 
In Spring we see the apple blossom, but who can then 
tell of its fruit? At that time we can only hope for 
luscious fruit in autumn. Who can see in the babe nur- 
tured and cherished by its mother any future intellect 
and greatness ? The mother then has only hope for its 
manhood. 'Tis then we see the crowning effect of 
that motherly love, when man goes forth and traverses 
oceans and deserts in pursuit of knowledge and pros- 
perity. Were men of great minds not infants and 
helpless ? When we see a cause, no mind however free 
and well-developed can then see the effect. From its 
starting point you may be able to trace it through its 
development, but from that first point can not tell 
what it will become. 

Finite mind can not circumscribe infinity, neither 
can this race or people make laws to govern or cir- 
cumscribe the people who in future shall go vern America. 
From the most subtile points comes some of the grandest 
results in chemistry, and also some of the most won- 
derful effects in medicine ever known to man. So from 
antagonistic influences set afloat between freedom and 



190 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

arbitrary control, there shall yet be awakened some of 
the greatest results ever seen in governments, which 
shall startle the world. Ignorance, bigotry and super- 
stition have always claimed the right, and had the 
power to rule and control the masses. They now sit 
quietly, and feel secure in their own strength, but 
mark, I tell you, the foundation of their temple is 
crumbling to decay beneath their feet. As surely as 
the ocean is fed by the streams of the continents, so 
surely will this government yet be fed by the masses. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 191 



SOCIAL REFORM. 

December 7, 1873. — S. 

My son, what is the important question for us to in- 
vestigate to-day, one which I shall demonstrate to a 
limited extent, even to the extent of my ability, but 
not to the complete unfolding of the question ? 

Some one may come after me, who may be able to 
rest his foot upon the second round of the ladder, 
while I must be content to-day to rest mine upon the 
first. Repeating the question in its most definite form. 
What now most agitates the masses of humanity? 
First, and most important is social reform. Without 
social reform, and the elevation of men and women to 
a high moral standing, you can neither have nor sus- 
tain a free government in the fullest acceptation of 
that term. 

Neither can men and women meet upon a basis of 
universal freedom to worship one great, eternal, all- 
powerful, everlasting God, and nothing short of this 
is God. Man, the creature, God, the creator. 

Man bearing the divine impress of Deity, who 
formed him an intelligent, rational, thinking man and 
woman. Man has the capacity to receive knowledge, 
not to form it, not to create knowledge, but to accept 
it according to the development of his mind. As that 
opens and expands, he understands better himself, and 



192 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

the conditions which surround him, and better his 
power of procreating and perpetuating his own spe- 
cies. 

As man's knowledge increases, he is better able to 
develop the scientific principles of nature, and adapt 
them to his own benefit and pleasure. 

From this no man can fail to see the importance of 
a healthy body and a sound mind. Now where are we 
to get them, if not in social reform? 

This is no new idea, for the need of it has long been 
felt in the world, and it is now all-important that it 
should be understood by the whole human family in 
every condition of life. We do not want a population 
composed of people, crippled, deformed, imbecile and 
idiotic, suicides and criminals, under which I class 
counterfeiting, cheating and robbing, in all its forms. 
There are now two classes of deformity, one of the body, 
the other of the mind. That class which we stand 
most in need of to-day is a full and well-developed 
body and a sound mind, not one of the idiosyncracies of 
the day, but one of universal uniformity, who will be 
able to understand all the needs of humanity. From 
history we learn that the lawgivers of Greece knew 
how to develop good, fine, physical bodies, and how to 
perpetuate them by making marriage arbitrary, and 
thus procreating the species from strong, healthy men 
and women. From them was raised the finest and 
best warriors of that period. The laws at that time 
w T ere a benefit to mankind, and as long as that people 
saw it, they thought it better to submit to arbitrary 
control than to suffer from a change in which they 
had had no experience. The king retained to himself 
the right and power to nominate and control the 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 193 

domestic affairs of his own realm. While I do not 
advocate such a restraint and control of the people by 
one man, I think it would be well for the people of 
this government to reflect upon that example, and upon 
the prosperity, healthfulness, physical and moral con- 
dition of that race of people. At their era they filled 
their destiny. We do not want woman again placed 
in the condition she then was, although strength of 
body is absolutely essential to promote the develop- 
ment of intellect. 

It is only from a sound, well-developed brain, sup- 
plied with healthy blood, we can ever have sound morals, 
a natural religion, and a universal freedom. Then 
will man be free so far as he is free from lust, and has 
the capacity and power to enjoy the good and true, 
but no farther. Viewing then the present condition 
of man, I say that to-day we need more than all things 
else a social reform. Like the volcano whose mur- 
murings are long heard, and its shocks felt before the 
burning flood appears, so have the minds of the people 
long felt and heard the murmurings of the shock pre- 
pared for them. Yes! a subtile element is at work 
through all the masses of civilized humanity, and as 
sure as there was a Morse to develop the electric tele- 
graph, so sure there will yet arise a greater than Morse 
to bring out and develop the scientific powers of hu- 
manity, and produce a greater effect in social reform. 
Combinations of the best elements in humanity are 
blending together which will culminate in the nine- 
teenth century, and bring forth such glorious results, 
which w T ould startle society to its foundations to-day, 
could they see its effects. Want always shows the need 
of a remedy, this agitates the mind and opens a foun- 
9 



194 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

tain of relief. (Here interrupted.) A shadow is so 
easily thrown between us. How sensitive is spirit life, 
the slightest shadow spoils our picture ; this is easily 
understood by the photographer. So it is with the 
foetus in the mother's w-omb, a word or act may spoil 
the child. How important then for man to love and 
cherish woman. Man may boast of an electric tele- 
graph, but a more important subject is yet to be dis- 
covered. 

I know that physicians and philanthropists have 
been trying for centuries to find a remedy to heal or 
destroy vice. It begins in the foetus ere shaped in the 
mother's ivomb. A man excited by strong drink, by 
avarice, or any other vice, or depressed by failure, if 
in that condition he comes in conjunction with his 
wife, he plants that baneful seed of man in the warm 
blood of the mother. There it becomes developed 
like the seed in the earth by sunshine and shower. Is 
that mother loved, caressed and cared for, or is she 
frozen by neglect ? 

Is she comforted, or is she kept in a furnace of pas- 
sion and vice ? That infant is nourished from her warm 
blood, its brain is molded and fashioned by her thoughts 
and passions as the machine is shaped by the me- 
chanic's brain. The health and physique may come 
from the father. Then pause, oh man, and reflect 
- upon your own condition ere you beget man who is to 
be godlike and great. 

The seed thus planted in spring-time and culture, 
is brought up and fed by the fatherhood and mother- 
hood. 

Is it nurtured by the flowers of affection, surrounded 
by the best associations, and everything in beauty and 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 195 

harmony, or is it always in contact with vice, hypoc- 
risy and the grossest of human passion? Can you 
expect harmony when two such youths thus differently 
raised are brought together? Then man, know thy- 
self! 

Learn the responsible and important power vested 
in your own soul by the first great cause, and when you 
do that you will then have the elixir of all life and 
truth. The philosopher's stone is no imaginary pebble 
to be found away off in some deep mine. No ! for it 
is buried in the brain of mankind, and as he uncovers 
it in himself, it will reflect love and knowledge, and 
so far as he is guided by its light and teachings, he 
will be benefitted by receiving happiness and the joys 
of a long life. This is not only true of one, but it is 
true of all. It is, therefore, necessary to develop this 
philosophical principle, and bring it to the knowledge 
of all. We must not cover it up by scientific phrases, 
making it an obscure mystery, as if it was indelicate 
for the refined masses to discuss openly and freely. It 
is absolutely necessary that this social reform should 
be inaugurated and promulgated, before mankind can 
have happiness, and a long life on this earth. Know 
then that it begins before the foetus is formed in the 
womb. It begins in man's blood in what he eats and 
drinks, and is influenced by the passions which sway 
his mind, a week before the spark of life is kindled in 
the foetus. After that it is all-important that the 
mother should have good food, pleasant companions, 
harmonious association, healthful exercise, and then 
you will have the reformed man of the twentieth cen- 
tury. Hence the interest in mankind must rise above 
popular prejudice, bigotry and ignorance, which now 



196 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

hangs like a vapor over the public mind. This is no 
new theory, for the cattle breeder already understands 
it. If then it is necessary to carry out this principle 
in order to have good cattle, is it not more essential it 
should be carried out to have fine, well-developed men 
and women in mind, in form and feature ? This knowl- 
edge, so applicable to a lower form of the animal crea- 
tion, man should adopt for himself the highest. Let 
him apply all of his philosophy to his own use and 
development. 



ANGELS MESSAGES 197 



CAUSE OP CEIME. 

December 11, 1873. — S. 

My son, in my last I spoke about the quality of 
life, and the necessary conditions of men and women 
to bring forth fine, healthy and well-balanced children. 
Think I showed beyond a doubt, the necessity of such 
a thing, and that it was perfectly practicable. 

We are on the eve of a great social revolution, and 
it is time these truths were inculcated. Let it begin 
with those who already have a knowledge of the hu- 
man system. From such offspring as I have described 
we will then have a people, and governors capable of 
making such laws that men, women and children can 
live together in harmony, with wisdom and knowl- 
edge. 

Then we shall live without the present great labor 
of building prisons to incarcerate men, in order to 
control them and correct their morals. The religious 
instructions which mankind has received has not re- 
formed man, after a trial of nineteen hundred years. 
Yes, after all this teaching, we find man to-day in this 
country as wicked and depraved as any heathen na- 
tion on the face of the earth. 

He may not kill his brother man to eat him like the 
savage, but he does kill him for what he possesses. 
The savage lives only for what he consumes and wears, 



198 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

and with that he is content, but the avarice of this 
nation knows no bounds. Right is banished for money, 
and there is no standard of right. Trace the history 
of any nation, and in its government we find abuse, 
tyranny and falsehood. From the highest to the lowest 
tribunal are they guilty of bribery and deceit. 

They do not look at nor care for the welfare of hu- 
manity, nor act according to the best knowledge or 
means which they have in their power. And why not? 
Let us inquire into this. A faith in a crucified Jesus 
has not reformed mankind. The fervent prayers of 
all the priests and people of this country (and I take 
it they have all prayed devoutly and sincerely) has 
not saved its morals. Now, if a belief and faith in 
the sacrifice and atonement of Christ for nearly nine- 
teen hundred years, has not improved mankind, not 
even those who believe it, then it shows itself to be 
wanting in potency over mankind, and, therefore, it is 
not adapted to that end, consequently it could never have 
been instituted by Almighty God. 

With all the religious creeds and religious educa- 
tion, with a free flag, and right to worship God 
according to one's own dictates, and yet man accepts 
the religion of the age without cavil. Then why do 
we have wars, murder, theft and such an array of 
crime as now blackens the annals of this country ? We 
see there is an error somewhere, either in the people 
or their faith, and we will seek to find it. Man, with 
such ample means around him, with a school-house on 
every hillside, and in every hamlet a church, whose 
sounding bell chimes out the hour of worship, where 
bread is broken in commemoration, and yet we see vice 
and wickedness as glaring as the sunlight. We see 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 199 

philanthropists of every kind trying to elevate man, 
and yet they all seem to fail, and why? Because man 
is not yet master of the science of life. Then learn at 
once the importance of bringing infants into earth's 
life in harmony. Let all the noble feelings of man- 
kind and womankind go out for this great work, and 
instead of caviling about creeds, and faith and worship, 
set themselves earnestly at work to regenerate and 
purify the conditions of man's birth. 'Tis the only 
salvation of America. This generation owes it to the 
succeeding one to promulgate this truth. 

It is not after the child is born, but before that its 
morals are formed. In the womb it is given muscles, 
blood, bones, brains, appetites and propensities, which 
will govern it through life. If these conditions are 
harmonious, we then have an honest, noble specimen 
of manhood, but if this law is violated, we then have 
a murderer, thief and robber. What tribunal is com- 
petent to judge a child for the sins of its parents? 
Well did the wise man say the sins of the father de- 
scends to the second and third generation, and a greater 
truth was never uttered by human lips. All heredi- 
tary sins and physical transgressions follow down, so 
does the moral. Gestation is no passive stall, it is one 
of the most active that can be conceived. 

Every element is brought into activity, they are all 
excited from the beginning, and so continue, until we 
have a perfect form, physically and morally. 

Healthy parents in a quiet happy condition must 
bring forth healthy, perfect children. Neither man nor 
woman understand the fatherhood and motherhood of 
man, or how to procreate their own species. 

The world has had its giants, dwarfs, lunatics, idiots 



200 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

and murderers. It has also had its master minds, 
men of gigantic intellect, and those who have always 
been held up for models for centuries afterward. Yet 
how few they have been in comparison to the multi- 
tude, these mile-posts along the pathway of ages. This 
fact proves the great ignorance that has ever existed 
concerning the most vital laws connected with and 
governing humanity. 

We might compare man with a piece of machinery. 
In constructing a machine, all its parts must be in 
harmony, of perfect length, shape and size, as only 
then can we have a perfect machine. All mechanics 
well understand how exact must be their measurement, 
or it will all go for naught. If this exactness then is 
so essential in order to make a perfect machine, how 
much more essential this exactness to have a perfect 
man ? It would be equally just, to try and punish a 
man because deformed from birth, as for a crime he 
could not help committing. If he did not possess the 
propensity, under no conditions could he be induced 
to commit a crime. The conditions he inherited, and 
could not prevent them. 

If a man be eight feet high, or a dwarf, nobody 
calls in question his size, because he inherited it, but 
if he steals, then he is taken before a tribunal, sen- 
tenced and imprisoned. Does this kind of punishment 
correct his propensity to steal ? No, for he is often 
carried back to the same place. 

'Tis not always want that induces men to steal, for 
they indulge this propensity when they have a plenty. 
It was inherited from birth, and pervades every fibre 
of their nature, and they but carry out the conditions 
produced in them before birth. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 201 

Every crime is traceable to ignorance of the divine 
laws of gestation. I give this to you because you do 
not consider it too gross or frivolous to study about, 
while it is a subject which should attract the attention 
of every man and woman. 

Now with all the boastings of the American people, 
we see they are not free. We have a new Congress to 
make laws for this enlightened and Christian natiou. 
Were the laws of the last Congress more wise, and 
beneficial to the people of this country, than those of 
the first and second Congress ? Have they aided in 
developing the resources of the country in proportion 
to their advantages over the first Congress? Soon the 
Centennial year will roll around, when this nation can 
boast of a hundred years' privileges and experience. 
It requires only a moment's contemplation of an in- 
telligent mind to draw a comparison between the first 
part of this century and the last. True, we see much 
has been gained in developing the resources of the 
country, and in the great ingenuity displayed in ma- 
chinery. Yes ! inventive genius has stalked like a 
giant through the country, dispensing gifts on every 
side. The goddess of liberty still holds her crown in 
her hands, but let her beware that the goddess of war 
does not snatch it from her. Where ! oh where is the 
goddess of love and harmony ? In her place we be- 
hold the goddess ot war standing up, and hear the 
rabble shouting for more territory. When we look at 
the present members of Congress, we see an imbecile 
set of men, incapable of go verning j ustly the territory 
they now possess. 

This is a heavy charge, but the mechanic of to-day 
can vouch for its truth. The quiet spindle of the 
9* 



202 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

North, and suspended business of all kinds thoughout 
the land, proclaims its truth. The suffering mechanic 
points his finger in condemnation to the lawgivers of 
our country, who are insufficient in their wisdom to 
legislate justly for all, or else they are fearfully neglect- 
ful of their duties. From this you see, with all the 
boasted freedom of this country,- it is not free. Know- 
ing these things, yet still they clamor for respect to be 
shown the flag of this country. Our country is wo- 
fully deficient in statesmen necessary to legislate for 
the benefit of the poorer classes. 

And why? We have had no great calamity, no 
failure of crops, no want or ability of the people to 
comply with the laws, then why are her subjects not 
more prosperous and happy? Men are thrown out of 
work, not because they are unwilling to work, not for 
any failure on their part to fulfill their contract with 
their employers, or with the government, then where 
and what is the trouble ? That is the point. 

We must search this out. We have not yet got the 
perfect man. Have not the masses willing minds and 
active brains? Is the country producing all it can? 
Are all its mineral resources fully worked ? Are there 
not men in flocks now idle, who are ready to build 
railroads, or work in the mines ? Has not the yielding 
plow been stopped which should bring forth food for 
the masses ? Have not our imports been in excess ? 
Then why are the producers in want of bread ? Is this 
a legitimate condition? 

Is it essential ? Look well to the future you present 
statesmen, w 7 ith your pride and honor, for I now tell 
you, that the man who now delves to bring up the fuel 
to warm you, is thinking and feeling, and he will 



ANGELS MILAGES. 203 

certainly call you to account for your acts and neglected 
duty. You may now pander to wealth and aggrandize- 
ment, but, mark you, your time is limited. As surely 
as Judea had prophets to herald her destiny, so shall 
America yet have statesmen and prophets who shall 
be instructed from the inner temple of spirit-life, and 
will condemn you, because you have been tried and 
found wanting. 



204 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



HOPE. 

December 7, 1873.— P. 

Ah, old man, what are you going to do with that 
ticket? I's going to vote. Ah! who made you free? 

Do you know it be by de war, and massa Lincoln 
set us free. You see I go to vote. I got a ticket. I 
vote for Grant, he be a great general, he help set de 
darkies free. He now be big President, he now make 
laws to heal the country. Ah, to rule the country did 
you say ? Yes, he rule the country. 

Did you mean rule the country? but, uncle, you are 
mistaken, you mean he rules the people. 

Oh yes, massa, all mean de same thing, me' s been 
educated, me has a book, and me's been going to school, 
and me read a little. Are you fond of reading? Can't 
say as I am. I rather pick de banjo, -it gives me 
more pleasure, always used to on massa's plantation 
down South. When de day's work done always knowed 
how to enjoy de melody of de banjo, and all the young 
ones come to dance nights, and it was so exhilarating. 
Did you say you used to enjoy it? Yes, sir — fine. 

And had you a master? Yes, sir, and plenty to eat, 
and clothes to wear, he always tend to me good, and 
misses too. Ah, had you a mistress ? Yes, sir. You 
say they tended you, and gave you plenty to eat? Yes, 
always had plenty, never lacked for nothing. And now 
you have got a book and a ballot, which neither feeds 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 205 

nor clothes you, and so from one mistress and master 
you see you have now another, your freedom to starve 
and to die. Yes, massa, I know dat, have had a 
mighty hard time, worked very hard, wages too low, 
banks all in a crash, and then not much to do. Then, 
sir. your freedom to one condition is your bondage to 
another. 

Oh yes, massa, but it get better soon. Massa Grant 
he be elected again, then we get honors, and titles and 
something better I hope. 

Ah yes, my old friend, that hope is your leading 
star, and only boon of freedom, the only one man can 
not control, and I am glad to see it reflected in your 
bosom. Yes, you with your kinky wool, now almost 
white with age, with form bent down, with tottering 
step, and still the star of Hope shines brightly within 
you. If I was in the form when you should be laid 
beneath, I would plant the anchor above the sod that 
covers you. Hope on, frail man ! Hope on, without 
it to cheer our dark and lonely hours, to be with us 
during our privations and disappointments, and in 
death, we would be most miserable. May the star of 
Hope shine brightly o'er all humanity, and find a re- 
sponse in every human soul. You are not alone in 
poverty, poor old man, for I see the world filled with 
wretchedness, degradation and want. I see earth's 
fairest daughters sunk in vice and degradation, while 
Hope still buoyant keeps them up. I see the most 
intellectual young men of the nation, take the inebriate's 
cup, and form associations degrading and damning to 
their natures. Still the star of Hope glimmers feebly 
from the innermost temple of their souls, and ever 
lights up the dark paths of their lives. By that uni- 



206 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

versal fatherhood must we all be supplied, and it must 
not, it shall not be lust, which shall unite man and wife, 
but a harmony of intellectual attraction. This will be 
necessary, in order to bring forth an educated moral 
Samson, who is to demolish this temple of Palestine. 
Every wornout idea which has been floating so long 
over the dead sea of society, shall be buried beneath its 
ruins, and upon its ashes another shall be erected, 
by which the whole human family shall be benefitted. 
When Pandora's box was unlocked and opened, and 
all her gifts were gone, Hope alone was left. Oh may 
the fire of genius kindle that hope, until it shall gild 
the hilltops of the future century in the aurora of 
morning light, and may all, even the outcast from so- 
ciety, see this great ship as it heaves in sight, which 
shall bear them above the tumult of despair, and land 
them in that progressive harmonial temple of hu- 
manity. It will hold every race of man created by 
the loving hand of Deity, now upon this terrestrial 
globe. The anchor is still left to those who yet hover 
upon life's shore, those yet must battle with the tempest 
until they shall reach the haven of rest. 'T is not de- 
bates in Congress, nor messages of Presidents that will 
bring happiness to a nation, but a unity of purpose, a 
steadfast will and constant exercise of the noblest phi- 
lanthropic impulses of humanity. They alone can 
bring a grand reform which will emancipate man in 
every condition of humanity, from vice and wicked- 
ness, which are more terrible masters than any slave 
owner could ever be. Yes, that quiet master vice is 
plucking with his bony fingers the flowers of this 
country, and holding them in his embrace, until they 
wither, and life becomes extinct. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 207 



ST. JOHN'S VISION. 

December 10, 1873.— 0. 

I, John, saw these things. Now you see John was 
not in an ordinary condition when he said he saw 
these things. I can tell you of many visions he saw. 
Now what was these things, and what do they mean? 
John was what people in this day call visionary ; that 
is, something worked upon his brain, worked upon 
his imagination. Was it his vision when he saw this 
great white throne? Oh, would that we could see to- 
day a great white throne rise above the sea of strife, 
whose waves are felt in every condition of humanity. 
John did not see these things with the natural eye, 
but with something beyond, and more than the physi- 
cal organ of sight. If John could see the things of 
which he gave such a vivid description, and which are 
so minutely recorded, why can not some John of to- 
day see similar things? 

No reader of the Bible will tell you that these things 
were real, that they were tangible to the sense. The 
beasts with many heads and horns, you are told, are 
figurative. But what does he say? I, John, saw these 
things. This does not state that it was a figure. There 
must have been a substance or he could not have seen 
it; and if there was not a substance, then John told a 
falsehood. No one questions John's veracity, they 
only question the objects themselves. I take it for 



208 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 



granted that John did see them, and that they were as 
he saw them, and that they h#d substance. He saw 
them as you see the objects in this room when the gas 
is lighted, but which are concealed from your sight 
when the gas is turned off, although they continue to 
exist. When you rise to have the light within you 
which he had, you will not only see beasts but also 
those you love, near to and around you. It may be 
out of the gulf of darkness or out of the sea of light, 
but they will be tangible to you in a spiritual sense. 
With your naked eye you can not see nor analyze the 
different gases in the room. To ascertain them you 
must use the crucible, weigh and measure them before 
you can tell what are its component parts. 

A man who has learned these things, one whose 
mind has been given to scientific pursuits can compre- 
hend these things, but the man without such knowl- 
edge, if asked, w r ould say there was nothing but air in 
this room. So you see the definition and description 
of anything by an educated, scientific man is one thing, 
and of the uneducated man quite another. So in 
spirit life we can comprehend only to a certain extent. 
We see a wonder as it stalks the earth to-day. It is 
not as far advanced yet as St. John was, but is fast 
approaching that point. John saw these things and 
told them to a brother, but he being ignorant of the 
conditions in the spirit world, was ready to fall dow T n 
and ,worship John as a God, but John would not suffer 
him to do it. What a comment is this upon the 
preachers of to-day, who believe the Bible, and yet 
deny to man the communion of saints. The record 
tells of many wonderful phenomena which men were 
familiar with long before Christ was born. But at 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 209 

the present time, eighteen hundred years after John 
saw these things, you are told you can not see and 
hear your brothers, sisters, family and friends who are 
around you every day. Why not? One says that I 
have wished and prayed that I might penetrate the 
mystic darkness that surrounds me, and behold a 
shadow as proof of spirit life. Oh, I know that man 
sincerely wishes it, but wishing does not bring that 
knowledge any more than wishing to know the compo- 
nent parts of the atmosphere brings that knowledge. 
It must be cultivated, studied, then seen. Seek to in* 
struct yourself in every science. Seek to unravel 
the mystery which now hides from you your friends, 
who have passed out of your sight. "Ask and ye 
shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall 
be opened unto you." Knock at the temple door of 
wisdom with a sincere desire that you may rise up and 
see the day dawn* upon spirit life, not shadows only, 
but the form of those whom you so loved upon earth. 
As it requires light to see with the natural eye, so it 
requires education of the soul to receive this light and 
see these things. As surely as John at Patmos saw 
the beast with many heads, so surely shall you yet see 
your own kindred and friends who have crossed the 
sea called death. 

What is religion? Is it to go to church, hear the 
scriptures read, to believe certain edicts. Is it neces- 
sary in order to receive these things that we should 
have a grand church all painted and cushioned, with 
a large bell to invite in those who are to hear, and 
who must be dressed in fashionable clothing? This 
age claims much for humanity, claims to be Chris- 
tian, to believe Christ was of the virgin, begotten of 



210 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 



the Holy Ghost, and of his resurrection. This sounds 
very well, and I have no objection to it, but let me 
analyze what is the immaculate virgin. We will not 
go through the Greek and Latin for its derivation, 
but state that it means truth and purity, nothing 
more, nothing less. What is the Holy Ghost? The 
outflow of truth or the benefits which we receive from 
truth, or from its author, God, who is himself the 
author of all things. Truth is the son of an immac- 
ulate virgin, begotten by the Holy Ghost; that is, 
truth begotten of wisdom. God is wisdom, and as we 
live and partake of this truth we become children of 
knowledge. Wisdom and* knowledge bring us into 
harmony and love, and they into harmony of spirit 
life. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 211 



THE EAGLE AND THE MOUSE. 

January 2, 1874.— P. 

I greet you for a new year. We have left the old 
one behind us with its shadows and sunshine, as it 
would appear to us could we recall each tedious mo- 
ment and every bright thought which has flitted 
through the brain. As we go on we still have hope 
engraved upon our banner for this great cause. Yes! 
seventy-three, we bid you farewell. Our pleasant ac- 
quaintance, my brother, has given us many grand 
greetings which will leave their impress of the divine 
within us and upon the pages of our life. Some have 
wept and mourned at their losses, while others have 
rejoiced at the victories they have gained, yet we, 
with the true feelings of a brother's heart, say fare- 
well, farewell, old year ! Peace to every aching heart, 
and joy to every weeping soul. Yes! may the ban- 
ner of love float over all the many homes of this con- 
tinent. As the new year dawns upon us may we 
walk and feel that we are children of the divine 
Father struggling along our pilgrimage, looking for 
flowers which bloom along the pathway of every indi- 
vidual. Yes! flowers, emblem of purity and love, 
may you bloom around every hearthstone in the land, 
and may your sweet fragrance be wafted upon the 
breeze to every kindred and every nation — one peo- 
ple, one nation, one God, the father of all. 



212 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

We bow in humble submission to thy divine un- 
foldings, knowing happiness only as we live in har- 
mony with the true philosophy of life. Oh, wisdom ! 
thou shouldst be our mother, and clothe us in the 
garments of love and trust, so that when the winds of 
adversity blow upon us we may then know and real- 
ize there is a temple of truth and love whose doors 
stand open awaiting our entrance. No bolts, no bars 
can keep us from the threshhold of our father's love. 
Death may apparently hang her shroud over us, and 
for a time obscure the temple door, as the clouds do 
oft obscure the sun, but oh it shines on, and this 
light will illuminate us and we shall yet see it in all 
its beauty. Yes, sweet ones, you welcome us across 
the turbid shores of death with gladsome hearts, and 
we shall meet thee in our embrace. Then be not 
weary child of ^arth, be not weary, for our summer 
land is freed from frost and death and aglow with 
love and harmony. My soul feels aroused as it hears 
youth whispering to loved ones. So the year that 
has passed and the one that is coming, can join hands 
across to-day. Oh, heaven is so near to earth, a misty 
vail but divides us. We are only hid by the cloudy 
mists of your own mind. 

Then what privileges are ours. Who can span 
them? who can reach them? My brother, though 
friends may frown and enemies may clack their viper- 
ous tongues, your own good moral worth will bear 
you up, and you shall hear the sweet music of a 
brighter sphere. Enemies you have even upon this 
broad earth. Why should man or woman be at en- 
mity with kindred man? As the miasm from the decay 
of the lower vegetation rises and spreads disease over 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 213 

this beautiful land, so does the miasm of demoralized 
humanity spread its poison over the fairest of earth. 
As the winds agitate the waves that roll themselves 
in crests, and which makes old ocean more grand by 
their bursting, then are gone, so shall the miasms of 
the human mind be dispelled, and like the wind, you 
can not tell from whence they came nor whither they 
are gone. Not so with the good deeds of men and 
women, for they will ever be a living monument of 
their worth. We see the lofty eagle as he soars heav- 
enward in search of some divinity. "We also see 
the little mouse as he pokes his head from out his 
hole with dread and fear that some enemy might de- 
vour him ere he can return to his hiding place. Not 
so with the mighty eagle who, with outstretched 
wings contends with the storms and winds which rage 
around him, and descends in free security to his nest 
on the craggy mountain. So little minds like the 
little mouse, peer out and look around seeking con- 
tinually for aid, yet always fearing that something 
may tarnish their importance, therefore they take 
flight and return to their little home of small ideas. 
The man of gigantic intellect is like the eagle who 
spreads his wings to the elements, for he extends and 
dispenses his ideas to storm-dashed humanity, and 
allows them to partake or refuse as it seems best to 
them, provided they have grown large enough to re- 
ceive them. Though this element of society may 
surge to and fro, like the ocean rise and fall again, 
this noble mind goes on its unvarying course ever 
dispensing light, and knowledge, and truth. 

Can the mouse judge of the intentions of the eagle? 
No! for he is far beyond his vision, and he could not 



214 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

see him even with spectacles. Can the eagle see the 
little mouse? Yes! but he is too insignificant for 
him to catch in his claws. Then soar along lofty 
bird, and continue to battle with the elements which 
surround you. We know the elements are great and 
strong, but keep on your way upward and with your 
wings outstretched for the flight, you will fear not, 
fail not, for that innate freedom of soul and purpose 
of right will surely guide thee, take thee on to success. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 215 



PURSUE THE PATH OF RIGHT. 

January 2, 1874. — 8. 

My son, your brother aimed to give you this com- 
munication last week, but was disappointed. He has 
now done the best he could under the circumstances, 
the medium being sick. Am glad to have this priv- 
ilege of meeting you so that we can feel more keenly 
one another's presence. My pleasure in meeting you 
is boundless, and often when I am going through my 
spirit home look forward and count the time when I 
shall be able to say a few words to you, however few 
and simple they may be. 

It makes me strong and fills my soul with love to 
see the noble sentiments of humanity you have, and 
which should guide and govern all in every condition 
of life. The poet complimented you by comparing 
you to the eagle, and I think you deserve it, and hope 
you may be as successful as he prefigures. 

Although you seem almost isolated in your own 
little home, many a welcome guest is there with you, 
who would gladly hold commune with you had they 
the means. Always ask yourself, my son, if what 
you do meets the highest approbation of your own 
manhood, for whatever the world may say, it is not 
the arbitrator of your fate. The eagle does not con- 
trol the elements, he only battles with them, and so 



216 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

can you battle with whatever is thrown against you 
with outspoken intellect and high-toned manhood. 

While the spiritual temple is so near you filled 
with heavenly flowers to embalm you with their fra- 
grance you need not fear what man or woman may 
say about you. Ours is not an empty temple, but 
one filled with willing hearts, ready to give you 
words of counsel and wisdom, and through you to 
heal many an aching heart, and calm many a dis- 
tressed soul. Then you may well take courage, 
knowing your barque is well manned, provided with 
a strong anchor and a wise chart that will carry you 
over the billows of life. Your own sweet wife told me 
to greet you with a heart full of love, and say that 
her prayers are that every moment of your life may 
be embalmed with true love from our spirit home. 
To her you was like the mighty tree of the forest tow- 
ering above all others, a landmark in her life, while 
your kind words and affection were the boughs which 
overshadowed her and protected her from every storm 
and sorrow. Your own dear mother sends a heart full 
of love to you, and as she moves through her spirit 
home feels day by day more confidence in your un- 
swerving integrity and devotion to truth and right. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 217 



GREETING. 

January 2, 1874.— & H. 

I bring my greeting too. Could not let the day- 
pass without making my appearance. Have not done 
much to-day, because I have been waiting for you to 
come. How fast time flies. Want to get hold of you 
and say so much to you. If it was just so you could 
step into my temple and have a nice conversation, 
wouldn't it be nice? To see you fills me with the 
same noble feeling which actuated me in my life. But 
I am so dependent, and feel it in every way. If I 
could go to my sisters, and with my spirit hands could 
tear away the vail from their prejudiced minds, which 
hides me from them, I should feel ;v. if I had done 
something. We are linked together here and are not 
independent. The poet is a good fellow, and under- 
stands so much more than people ever gave him credit 
for. I heard his compliments to you, and hope you 
will receive them, as you are deserving of them, and 
they will be a kind of salve to you and show you that 
some can appreciate you even if they are not tangible to 
physical experience. Like a gentle touch or the sweet 
tones of music do we hear the notes of those we love, or 
like the sweet odor of a flower shedding its fragrance 
through all the room do we feel the gentle touch of 
spirit fingers, or like the sound of sweet music afar off 
10 



218 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 



that we can not tell from whence it comes, but we feel 
its echo deep in our heart. We know it well, for it 
has kindled a thought of one whom we have loved, 
one whose bright face has gone from us and left us in 
the dark murky world, while they are in the sunlight 
of spirit home, still loving, watching and sympathizing 
with us. 

The beginning of the year! May it be as bright for 
you as the buttons we see on the ladies' coats. Good 
seems afar off, but is much nearer to you than you 
think. I hope to illumine some of your weary hours. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 219 



GOVERNING AND GOVERNED. 

January 9, 1874— S. 

My son, better late than not at all. Am glad to 
see you looking so well. Have been attending what 
would be termed by you a convention. 

It was compo&d of the best statesmen of America, 
and was convened to discuss the best method of elevat- 
ing man in the scale of morality, and of the best way 
of presenting it to the human mind. 

When we use that word, we mean it in all its bear- 
ings, of a high moral culture. It is the intention of 
this numerous gathering of the brotherhood in spirit 
life, to raise man above the scale of war, as one of the 
first steps in elevating man. We are not in favor of 
coercion of the mind, but of intellectual improvement, 
in order to gain freedom enough to express an opinion 
without fear of being scoffed at. 

It is one thing to be free, and another thing to 
claim to be free, and in this settled belief of freedom 
we find a great obstacle to the progress of humanity. 

We have previously discussed freedom, but this sub- 
ject leads us upon the same grounds. When man 
gets an idea, no matter from wh4,t source, let him give 
it honest investigation, without feeling any coercion to 



220 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

drop it, or allow his fear of a smile on another's face 
to prevent him from discussing this idea freely. 

When men pay their debts without being forced to 
do so by public opinion, but feel a pleasure in doing 
it because it is right, they ought to have sufficient 
freedom of thought to discuss any idea presented to 
them. To discuss any idea freely and fairly, is of the 
greatest assistance in unfolding the truth, and thus 
benefitting humanity. We should teach children to ex- 
press their opinions freely, and not keep them under 
constant moral restraint nor fear. 

We should not control them arbitrarily, or enforce 
our opinions upon them, but lay open and discuss 
freely and honestly every subject, be it political, reli- 
gious or moral. We see that every person has self- 
esteem and vanity. A man goes into the army, and 
runs the risk of being killed for his country, to obtain 
glory, and if he gains a great victory, he is then eu- 
logized all the rest of his life. This is all very well 
in its place, but we hope that wars will be no more 
necessary forever, and that man will find honor in an- 
other and different channel. Glory and honor obtained 
in war answered well for the heathen, before man be- 
came civilized. Now man should contend for honor in 
doing right, and not in whipping another nation. 
Honor is doing right A man capable of authority, 
and of holding those under him in moral restraint, 
should pursue an honest course despite the prejudice 
and passion thrown in his way by the masses. The 
government of America should not pin her faith to any 
military chieftain, who has won his honor by the num- 
ber of battles in which he was victorious. 

If this country bestows her favors upon a chieftain 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 221 

for such a reason, she then loses sight of the principles 
of freedom, and is below the standard of a high-toned 
government, or a government sufficiently enlightened 
to give happy homes, and equitable laws to all who 
wish to live under her flag. We must not have at the 
helm of State one to hold us in subjection by unequal 
power, as that would destroy the most important prin- 
ciple of all governments, namely, harmony. 

A man free and independent enough to govern by 
a principle of right, he being clothed in all the ma- 
jesty of intellect and knowledge that any man or set 
of men can obtain, if he has no selfish end in view, 
would never peril his country in war, merely for the 
pecuniary sum he might receive, nor for all the para- 
phernalia of the most distinguished warrior. And 
yet it is often done, and that too after all the advan- 
tages and boastings of nineteen hundred years' Christian 
teaching and example. You see the drift of my argu- 
ment concerning the government of this country. 

This will have to be changed, and we will have to 
do it through the intellect of man, and without being 
involved in wars. This object should be the desire of 
every philanthropical individual. We might draft a 
better code than has yet been adopted. This country 
must be the haven of freedom, and then its influence 
will go out over the whole world. We now see so 
much corruption in office, and monopoly in all the 
mechanical pursuits. The great speculations which are 
now rife, have caused the present embarrassed condi- 
tion of this country, which is now felt even to the 
lowest and most abject man, if, perhaps, we except a 
few office-holders, who are always cared for. It does 
not require the wisdom of a Solomon to say that this 



222 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

condition could have been prevented, and that it has 
been the result of bad management, and wild specula- 
tions in stocks and gold. 

A country which permits its own currency to be 
used as a speculative medium, and countenances the 
swindling done with it, does and justly should have 
its reputation stained in other nations and govern- 
ments. 

Could we call the attention of this people to the 
rulers in Congress, who are daily wasting their time 
in caviling over the laws, while the whole country is 
being taxed to keep them there for the purpose of 
making wise and just laws, they would call them home 
at once. As I look upon this country, and the finan- 
cial basis upon which it is kept up, I can but liken 
it to a volcano just previous to its eruption. 

Within that mountain are the various elements 
which are necessary for an eruption. This mass is not 
in harmony," it is boiling and mingling together in 
one burning ocean of uncongenial fluid, until the 
mountain is shocked from base to apex, when it be- 
comes rent asunder, and the burning lava issues forth. 

Until we can have wise and just statesmen to make 
better laws, we must consider this government a fail- 
ure, although we have had the advantages of all that 
is known in science and art in every European cap- 
ital and government. Then why have not the com- 
mon people of this country had greater privileges? 
Is the use of all science and art, all railroads, steam- 
boats and telegraphs to be worked only for a few or 
the whole of this people ? When I look around and 
see the industry and willingness of this people, I sigh 
for the want of noble -hearted men with high moral 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 223 

principles for their leaders. Humanity has not yet 
grown out of its swaddling clothes, and can not yet 
govern itself. It is still necessary for man to be de- 
veloped to govern, as well as to be governed, for he 
who is not capable of being governed, is not capable 
of governing. 

Man has subjected steam, and controlled electricity 
for his own benefit, and now the crowning apex of 
humanity, man's mind, must not be neglected. It must 
be developed like steam, and for the welfare of the 
whole human race. We can never have a powerful 
government, until we have great, good and powerful 
subjects. 

While humanity are seeking to cultivate and edu- 
cate the masses, let them do it honestly, and not sow 
the seed of wisdom, leavened with avarice and ambi- 
tion, but blended with harmony and love. 



224 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



DRESS. 

February 7, 1874.— S. 

My son, as the field of human progress is so exten- 
sive, I will begin at once. As I look around, I can 
scarcely see a principle connected with the welfare of 
man, but what could be improved. As a nation in 
our selfishness and pride we claim a great deal for our 
civilization and Christianity, but often our pride and 
selfishness deceives us. This is as true of nations as 
individuals, and, therefore, we should always be watch- 
ful to guard against an over estimate of our ability 
and power. Whatever man has accomplished in the 
United States, where all were born free and equal, 
says the Declaration of Independence, he could have 
done much more had he pursued the paths of honesty 
and justice, and cultivated the finer feelings and better 
qualities of the mind, instead of climbing the road to 
ambition, and constantly pandering to selfishness. 
Your rulers have made the masses partially believe 
that man under the government of the stars and 
stripes is free, but I speak the truth when I say there 
is not a free man nor woman, who now claim to be an 
American citizen. All are more or less slaves to some 
idea, something that is false or real, and there is not 
a government now on the globe, where there is not as 
much freedom as on the continent of America. First 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 225 

it is quite essential to the well-being and happiness 
of humanity that they should cultivate truth, honesty 
and magnanimity, but instead of this the faculties 
now most worshipped is pride, hypocrisy and ambi- 
tion. Humanity bows at the shrine of deception, 
and sacrifices on its altar every other faculty yearn- 
ing for adoration, or what the world calls fame. 
Woman, mother of mankind, the fountain of benevo- 
lence, charity and refinement, she too sacrifices herself 
on the altar of pride, and there offers up the purest 
incense of her soul. Nearly every virtuous feeling and 
kindly motive is consumed by vanity and show in 
dress ; woman never for a moment considering that 
nature in all her beauty and innocence, when unadorned, 
is most adorned, as a great writer once said, and a 
more profound truth was never uttered. A creative 
intelligence, a modest face, a head crowned with na- 
ture's tresses of hair is more to be admired than all 
the gems that ever decked the diadem of a queen. 
Now the hair is colored by art, is powdered, frizzed 
and distorted in shape as if to scare away the simplic- 
ity and beauty of the face. In nature's mould the 
female form is straight, upright and of symmetrical 
outline, but now it is tortured, burdened and de- 
formed by ill-shaped garments as varied as the inge- 
nuity of a Frenchman can devise. Those garments 
not only destroy the symmetry and beauty of woman's 
form, but they produce disease, break up health and 
destroy the constitution. By those badly-shaped gar- 
ments tightly worn, the body is crushed, the heart 
and viscera are hindered in their normal action, the 
physical strength becomes impaired, and health is to- 
tally annihilated. 
10* 



226 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

Thus we see that instead of having strong, healthy, 
handsome women, we have ill-shaped, deformed and 
sickly ones, and yet fashion calls them prodigies of 
beauty, while I should say, unnatural deformities and 
a sad spectacle. Now, I ask, are the women of Amer- 
ica free? If so, why do they so closely follow fashion, 
imbibe its folly, and bring suffering, sorrow and dis- 
ease upon themselves and their offspring ? They all 
take on fashion with its transgressions of nature's law, 
as far as they can obtain the means to purchase what 
it demands. What is all this for ? Why does woman 
distort her features, burden her head and punish her 
body ? Ah ! ? t is fashion ! a terrible monster, who sways 
its scepter with a tyranny unknown to any king, em- 
peror or titled power on the globe. 

I know the question is often asked, what good does 
Spiritualism accomplish ? Now, I want to begin at 
home, and let this people see how much freedom they 
now have, and how they use it. I want them to see 
whether or not they destroy their own health and 
happiness by their ignorance of what freedom should 
be. Again, I refer to nature in support of my re- 
marks upon dress. The birds of the air require no 
fashion to form their dress, and make them hideous, 
but have clean feathers which are yearly changed, 
and then they sing more sweetly. Yet all the birds 
in their beauty and symmetry, can not compare to, 
nor equal woman in her beauty. Then why should 
man and woman endowed with intellect, gifted with 
beauty and symmetry of form, capable of love and 
of receiving knowledge, be the only animals in crea- 
tion who abuse their great and holy gift, by setting 
nature aside with all her works, and thus assume to 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 227 

have more wisdom than the Creator. This they do 
continually by adopting and wearing costumes shock- 
ing to the eye, oppressive to the body, and destructive 
to health. 

Beside this, look at the enormous expense of time 
and money required to bring about such frightful evils. 
A greater evil to the human family never existed than 
the propensity and indulgence in extravagant dress. 
It is alike ruinous to the country, and its people. Man 
and woman should adapt themselves to nature, and 
the nearer this is done, the more comfort and happi- 
ness they will receive. Nature can not be improved 
by the art of man or woman. If we search the 
records which come down to us through the past, 
we see wickedness and dissipation go hand in hand 
with extravagant dress. 

Vanity has crushed many nations, and caused some 
of the bloodiest wars ever waged among men. A na- 
tion or family become corrupt in proportion as they 
indulge in extravagance. It is, therefore, a great curse 
to a family or nation. Those who indulge in extreme 
dress and living, commit one of the greatest crimes 
possible to man or woman, as it begets unknown crime, 
unknown trouble, and untold misery. Is woman 
not more than costume? Does she value the mate- 
rials she wears more than her own spiritual nature, 
which is so neatly encased within her own fleshly 
tabernacle ? Are her costly diamonds, which flash in 
the gaslight of the ballroom, and the expensive fabrics 
she wears, which man has traversed the earth to bring 
to her, more highly estimated than the divine germ 
within her? Is that noble spirit within her so cov- 
ered up, that its existence can not be realized? Is it 



228 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

pressed almost out of existence? Does woman feel 
that she is an immortal being? or is this feeling 
crushed out by the excitement she undergoes, because 
of the costliness and extravagance of her apparel? 
"Tis sad to know that this desire for an indulgence 
in dress, hides from sight all that is noble, and grand, 
and beautiful in woman. Woman, when staggering 
under her burden of dress, can not realize her high 
privileges, her immortal birth, and her eternal progress. 
Oh, woman, your dress is your prison-house; 'tis the 
manacles which bind you to earth. It may attract 
man for a moment, as the candle entices the moth, 
but with your gewgaw and dress you lose your power 
over him, and are but his plaything for an idle 
hour. To man you should be a shining light. You 
should illuminate him, and attract him to a higher 
and purer sphere, and assist him in unfolding his mind, 
and thus blend physical life with spiritual life. Oh, 
what power is wrapped up in woman, and yet how 
fearfully and badly used. Woman should hold the key 
to all that is good and great, and deal it out to man 
freely and fully. Then, oh woman, do not spend your 
time on dress, but devote it to a pure spiritual life, 
as in this way only can you sanctify your inner life, 
and show to man that he too has a spiritual life. Wo- 
man should be an angel to open the gates of a pure 
and true knowledge of that which gives real happi- 
ness. Let her not then seek the frivolities of fashion, 
and in glare and excitement for happiness, and thus 
leave man prone upon the ground in dissipation and 
darkness. Oh, beautiful woman ! noble is your mis- 
sion, and, oh man ! great are your responsibilities. It 
was once said, they twain shall be one flesh, and I 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 229 

say, in eternity. Man without woman, or woman 
without man, would be a nonentity. Both were pro- 
duced by wisdom, not like a bubble blown from a quill, 
but a living, eternal, existing power, constantly re- 
producing their kind, not lost, but ever multiplying, 
yet never exhausted, proving the infinite greatness of 
that fountain from which they were all produced. 

Yes ! they are beings of creative and ultimate per- 
fection, brought from the great laboratory of animal 
life, and from animal life to a higher spiritual life, 
whose rays like the sun at meridian diverge in every 
direction. 



230 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



ST. VALENTINE. 

February 13, 1874— P. 

Ah, be sure, 't is foul weather. The wind blows, and 
the rain pats against the window. The bare limbs of 
the trees do battle strong, but to-morrow comes St. 
Valentine. Yes, St. Valentine comes, and be sure 
't is a long year since he was here. As I listen, I al- 
most hear his footsteps coming, and feel his genial 
spirit as it wells up in my very body. He comes alike 
for the good of man and beast, of bird, and tree and 
flower, all, all alike feel the conjugal influence of his 
saintly power. He speaks not a word, he utters not 
a sound, yet, methinks, I hear his own voice, for it 
speaks to me in silence. Whether asleep or awake, 
you may know his coming by the bird's sweet song, 
and witnessing the tiny leaves unfolding, and see the 
crocus peeping up through the snow, then you too will 
know he has passed along. St. Valentine is a goodly 
personage, impartial alike to all things around, above 
and below. 

, Once a year I like a visit from St. Valentine, he 
who so famous was of old, so wise and gay his noble 
spouse did choose; so all young men from that day 
to this, his example imitiate e'en to a kiss. I hear 
the tinkling of bells as on the feet of some sweet 
maiden as she my window passes by, and I throw up 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 231 

the sash and open wide the blind, which doth from 
me obscure her face divine. Tinkle, tinkle little 
bells and awaken the latent feelings in all whom by 
you pass in joy and gladness, in hope or sadness. 
Yes! St. Valentine call in your choice, slack in your 
pace, give joy to boys and girls and all else in its 
place. Shake out mementoes sweet to each journey er 
you meet, that all alike may know 'tis St. Valentine 
they meet. The fourteenth day of February he al- 
ways comes to time, this genial wise and happy St. 
Valentine. We can not climb apace and learn the 
eras you have already passed, but we know you have 
reached us in eighteen seventy-four. 

We know too, you will not stop in seventy-four, 
but pass on to seventy-five and six, and none can 
now foretell in what coming era you will find a per- 
manent abiding place, for you are ever going, going, 
going, and coming, coming, coming, and may you 
always bring us the same warm hopeful greetings. 
Oh, how I should have liked to live and been a com- 
panion with the poets, sages and prophets of thy 
infancy long ago, and with strong and heavy strides 
come down to the present time. When we look back 
into the misty eras that have passed, covered with 
the mold of centuries, gathered too over the mind, with 
our deepest penetration and research, we can not dis- 
cover from whence came, or what was the origin of 
this custom, which has come down to us of a people 
long since buried. History tells us scarcely anything 
of their habits and customs, but we see dimly 
shadowed in their fables which have come down to 
us, what importance they attached to those customs, 
and how tenaciouslv thev held to them. This fact 



232 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

tells us they must have had some special meaning 
and use in their experience. We know that people 
had not the benefit of ink, pen and paper, and many 
other privileges of the present century. Memory 
must have served them instead of the written page, 
whereon we now chronicle the events which have 
and still transpire. Hence, we must feel, and I 
would add, realize that those musty symbols were of 
great interest and importance to that people. They 
were hallowed in every household, for they told of 
something of interest to them either in science, or to 
mark some particular epoch of that nation. They 
clung to those symbols as other nations do to 
Michaelmas, or the advent of saints, which events 
have been brought down to us not as martyrs alone, 
but as noted personages above church and creed, and 
who were clothed with almost the attributes of a God. 
I would not lay aside a single one of those recognized 
symbols, or any day that has been handed down to us, 
but would have them perpetuated, and with the 
light and science of the present generation they might 
lead to good results. I would not have them wor- 
shipped like the conqueror of some bloody battlefield, 
but as some good thing gained which must have 
benefitted that nation and that people. It might 
assist us in rolling back that mighty cloud of super- 
stition which now hangs like the darkness of night 
over our earthly vision. St. Valentine, you strode 
forth a genius in philosophy, light and science which 
benefitted your race in deed and act, lifting them 
from the mire of superstition to the lofty mountain 
top of knowledge. You directed them to the mys- 
terious workings of nature in her great laboratory 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 233 

of chemical action in plants, animals and men, 
all being from the same great power, governed and 
directed by the mighty impulses in the heart of 
nature, beating alike for all, and showing only har- 
monious results of the divine law of God. 

As the heavy tramp of time faded into silence and 
its footsteps were washed away, we see left only a 
dim outline of the hoary locks the old man possessed, 
brought down to us in the nineteenth century. 
Figuratively speaking your locks are hoary, your brow 
lofty, your eye clear and discerning, and with your 
hands you gently unbar the doors of wisdom of that 
great storehouse of nature. Man entering it may then go 
forth conquering ignorance and superstition. He will 
then receive the gentle aspiration to go up higher and 
extend his vision both far and near. You too unlock 
the frozen heart of man, and he then enjoys the pass- 
ing breath of thy divine shadow. 

Yes, divine — 'tis divinity itself that passes along 
the frozen skirts of winter that is just ready to drop 
into the bosom of Spring. The husbandman then 
feels the warm heart of nature welling up in him, 
and prepares the soil, that in harvest he may reap an 
abundance. From the great storehouse of the wisdom 
of God comes Spring with the blade, plant, leaf and 
bud, then Summer with its warming sun to develop 
them, then Autumn to mature and ripen them for 
man's consumption. I pause when I feel what grand 
wisdom created all things in such beauty and har- 
mony, and ask, why is it so? 

I hear the echo as it comes o'er hill and dell and 
sounds deep down in my soul of souls, 'tis the 
majesty of God unfolding and still unfolding step by 



234 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

step. As I traverse in thought the unexplored fields 
of immortality, pressed by the foot of man in all past 
ages — traversed only by those who have passed the 
sands of time, and now stand out like light, I see 
infinite wisdom and grandeur and goodness. Life is 
great — eact finds its counterpart from the tiniest 
plant to the loftiest tree that waves in the forest, 
from the purling stream to the mighty river and the 
majestic ocean which laves the shores of continents 
and bears on its billows the commerce of nations. 
Life is unending. 

We can grasp only a portion of it at a time, and 
as I stand upon the shore of this vast ocean of 
eternity looking at the millions toiling up through 
their present conditions to the plain I now inhabit, 
when I reflect on the trillions who have gone before 
me, I can not comprehend the beginning nor the end, 
but feel that the destiny of man is great, greater, greatest. 
Then let us be soldiers, not on a bloody battlefield, 
but soldiers waving the banner of peace and freedom 
high over the desecrated earth and downtrodden 
humanity. Let them read on our banner " Excelsior," 
and march onward and upward with the same silent 
tread as St. Valentine awakens in the trees when the 
sap ascends, in the birds when their notes become 
more musical, and in all animated nature when she 
speaks freedom and liberty from the shackles which 
has held them in her embrace the passing season. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 235 



PASTING BLESSING. 

February 17, 1874.— H. S. 

My daughter, God bless you ! It is a pleasure to 
see you in whatever place you are. I can visit you 
wherever you may be, but you can not see me until 
you lay aside the realities of life. My daughter, come, 
and sit in my lap, as you did when a child. May 
you always look as bright, and be as cheerful as you 
was at our own home. There is no alteration in your 
father's love, not even by death. iSTo! 'tis not death 
to our love, 'tis not death to our existence, but a wid- 
ening of our capacities, when we accept the beauties 
and blessings given to us, and live in accordance with 
the higher laws of nature, we develop ourselves to 
spiritual intercourse, or rather to the real spirit in 
man and woman. Man realizes his birthright when 
he goes beyond the physical into the spiritual. 

It has real and tangible connections, and holds com- 
munion with superior or imponderable man and 
woman, who have left the form. Yourself, your hus- 
band and your children can not be as happy as we 
wish you to be. Do all in your power for your hus- 
band's happiness and success, and may he do likewise 
for you. May you ever be in true harmony in this 
life, and may the offspring of your body grow up use- 
ful citizens, loving and devoting children, and may 



236 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

love and prosperity crown you in living and ever- 
lasting light. Yes ! a crown of light is more to be 
desired than the crown of king or emperor, for it 
brings to its possessor what the king can neither re- 
ceive nor give to any of his subjects. It brings peace, 
love, happiness and a correct understanding of ourselves, 
our obligations and our privileges. Although you ap- 
parently go away from me for a time, because there I 
shall not be able to speak to you, and give you 
advice, feel assured I shall be present with you, and 
there is no place so distant but I can find you, and 
love you, and if you are happy, I shall be so, and if 
you are in distress, you will share the full sympathy 
of every feeling in my heart. Therefore, whether 
happy or miserable, I shall know it, and realize it as 
distinctly and truly as you will yourself. Give my 
love to my daughter you go to. Although she does 
not realize it, I feel a deep sympathy for, and have a 
heart-felt love for her, and prejudice can never raise 
a barrier high enough to prevent my loving her, and 
sympathizing with her, my daughter. Her husband 
and children have my truest love ; yes, my soul en- 
circles them all in its warm and loving embrace. 

May her religion be a balm to her soul, a light to 
her path, and may it pluck away every thorn from 
her heart. When her change comes, I shall be there 
to welcome her to our happy home, and she will then 
know and realize my presence and love, as she once 
did, me, her father in the flesh. Oh ! could all my 
children fully enjoy this privilege, which is their birth- 
right. Could they even arise to the summit of their 
own faith, which their own religion grants them, and 
accept it as a reality, then they could enjoy as a pos- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 237 

sibillity this condition, and not think of it as some far- 
off, hoped-for, doubtful realization. May your sojourn 
in your new home be pleasant and prosperous. 

From my spirit standpoint I can see nothing now to 
mar its beauty and harmony. May the wisdom of love 
crown thy little ones, which is brought from that high 
and inexhaustible fountain filled with love for all the 
children of earth. May they accept this love from 
their grandfather's hands, and may it twine around 
them like a creeper around some ancient turret, and 
may they receive that true wisdom of God, which shall 
make every one traveling life's journey happy and 
prosperous. 



238 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



FALSE KELIGION. 

February 20, 1874— S. 

My son, we will lift our feet out of the slough to- 
day, to a higher and firmer ground than that on which 
they have heretofore rested. When I look back into 
the past, and see the success of man's efforts in con- 
quering superstition and bigotry, I have no fear of his 
success in the future. It is not necessary to go beyond 
our own country and countrymen to find an example 
of one who personifies industry and wisdom. For ex- 
ample, will take Ben Franklin, and follow his career 
from a poor apprentice, struggling through poverty 
and hardships to gain a subsistence. 

We see him striving to break through the barriers 
which obscured the scientific development of electricity, 
and many other mysterious workings of nature. His 
mind was not confined to the philosophy of nature 
alone, but to the expanding of his own soul to the in- 
terests of man, ever trying to lay the foundations of his 
structures deep and broad, helping with all his strength 
to do for this government that which should be a benefit 
to all humanity. He felt that man must have a good 
and liberal government, in order to be a good and wise 
man. I almost feel the noble impulses of his soul, as 
I reflect on his career, and of the benefits which he 
left behind. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 239 

It behooves all mankind to benefit their race, not 
by amassing wealth like Stewart, of New York, and 
many others of this Republic whom I could name. 
When their money shall have faded away, and not a 
footprint of their wealth is left, who will speak of 
them as a benefit to mankind in any way whatever. 
'T is not being President, nor being a millionaire that 
makes a man great, 't is a great mind that makes a 
great man. No ! 't is not what a man possesses finan- 
cially, but what that man really is, his own intrinsic 
value, mental worth, grand and liberal ideas. What 
would our government now be without steam, without 
the electric telegraph, and without the many appli- 
ances of science which a civilized goverment requires ? 
Trace back these discoveries, and look at the men who 
have been instrumental in finding them, and in de- 
veloping science, and you will soon learn who are the 
men which have been a benefit to mankind. It was 
not the faulty politician, the bishop, the priest nor the 
divine. 

They seem to have risen above the wants of earth so 
far as their advice from the pulpit extends, seemingly 
content with living, hoping and preparing for a proba- 
bility of a something beyond the ken of mortal, or 
above this age of superstition. No church creed nor 
theology can prove mathematically, or beyond a doubt, 
immortality, or anything beyond the present teaching. 
I will make a comparison between theology and phi- 
losophy, and take any bishop on one side, and Ben 
Franklin on the other. Any theology which is not in 
accordance with philosophy, or which can not be de- 
monstrated by the laws of nature, you must admit is 
superstition. Morse contended a long time for the 



240 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

principles of electricity before they were practically 
demonstrated. As we now look along the lines, run- 
ning in every direction, although the principles gov- 
erning electricity have not changed, we see there has 
been many improvements in its successful use. 

Now what were the principles held up by the church 
a few hundred years ago? Were the same dogmas 
then held up as we hear to-day, and had they the same 
faith and belief to save the citizens of this Republic ? 
We are now reaping the benefits of many scientific 
discoveries and improvements in knowledge, and we 
are quite familiar with the opposition with which they 
were met by all those who held to the popular theo- 
logical ideas. Popular religion has always been at war 
with science, that is, if a dogma is religion ; but I 
contend there is a difference between a principle and 
an idea. Theological opinions have always been at 
war with science from the earliest times. I now refer 
to this, and intend to show the difference between 
theology and philosophy. 

Religion as now taught in the nineteenth century 
is directly opposed to the true principles of philosophy. 

Its foundation is laid on the conception of woman 
impregnated by a spirit, or the spirit of God. Two 
thousand years ago lived this virgin immaculate who 
was called Mary. Now in order to be a Christian you 
must believe this conception to have been a fact 
without even the right to question its truth, no matter 
how much philosophy, or your own reason is opposed 
to it. You must accept this truth without the 
knowledge of who first told it, or when. Of the 
veracity of the men and women of that i emote period 
we know nothing, but according to the best account 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 241 

gathered from history, to. say the least is very ques- 
tionable. If such an event should occur here among 
the common class — the mechanics or fishermen, what 
citizen would believe it? Yet in this enlightened age 
you are asked to accept this and believe it, coming 
as it does from the past, or else you can not enter the 
gates of happiness after you leave earth, or after 
death ensues. Now all the scientific men in Chris- 
tendom and heathendom combined can not find any- 
thing in chemistry, or elsewhere, which will produce 
impregnation in woman, and there is no method 
known which will do it, except the conjunction of 
man and woman. 

The priests and divines tell you you have no right 
to question this matter, that it is one of the mys- 
teries of God. So was the lightning wrapped in the 
cloudy canopy above until Franklin produced a key 
and unlocked it. Morse applied it and put it to a 
practical use, which will be a benefit to mankind for 
all time to come. 

All problems in philosophy are mysteries until we 
grow to the proportion of the mystery and are able 
to unravel its secrets and control its power. At one 
time steam was a great mystery and of no practical 
benefit to mankind. It evaporated from the kettle 
and was lost in space, until a quiet reflective boy saw 
it working, saw power was there as it raised the kettle 
lid up and down. Step by step has this giant been 
chained and put to many different uses, until it has 
become one of the greatest powers now known to this 
or any other country; bearing men and commerce 
from place to place with almost the rapidity of the 
wind. What had theology to do with this discovery ? 



242 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

and yet its teachers wanted this boy whipped, because 
he had a devil. Poor Galileo! you too was brought 
to task for unlocking another mystery of nature. 
You threw a stone at this old theological edifice. So 
you perceive as we advance step by step in chemistry 
and philosophy the sunlight of truth is dispelling those 
old fables. It is a long .road, but as I said at the 
beginning, we would lift our feet out of the slough 
and place them higher, for we see great things in 
store for humanity, we see a column loftier than 
Judea. As man grows in intelligence and truth he 
shakes off the shackles of dogma to which he has paid 
tribute so long. Man will yet ascend to a summit of 
wisdom and knowledge more lofty than Sinai or 
Pisgah, from whence, according to the language of 
the Jews, Moses viewed the promised land. Taking 
it as a figure, the children of Israel in the wilderness, 
and applying it to our nation, I would say that we 
have been in the wilderness of doubt long enough, 
and that some prophet as resolute as Moses will soon 
arise, who will see something higher and better beyond 
the swelling flood than the black and smoking hell of 
the orthodox and singing heaven of the Christian. 
Every valuable truth which has benefitted mankind 
has come from plain industrious mechanical people, 
showing plainly that industry and a certain amount 
of work is good for the brain, and that the brain 
does not suffer from using the hands to labor. Since 
it was a divine command, "by the sweat of the 
brow shall ye eat bread," one would think that those 
preachers who teach this truth would like to have the 
benefits of physical labor, or do something besides 
talking and preaching. How many priests and 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 243 

divines practice what they teach about labor, and 
how many bishops and clergy earn their bread by 
their own industry? Freedom and industry are words 
constantly in the mouths of ministers and public 
speakers. They are always trying to inculcate into 
the poor man's mind how honorable and useful to 
him is labor, while they never seem to desire its 
benefit themselves. Man should have the freedom to 
think rationally and judge reasonably. 

He should reflect on all questions involving his own 
welfare freely and fully, and receive from them all 
the benefits he can get. The use of the hands in 
industry, and of the mind in thought, are each bene- 
ficial in their place to every individual. No man, 
woman or child should be ashamed, because they 
have to work daily for their own maintain ance. They 
then have more freedom and independence than any 
officer or politician of this government, who is yearly 
elected by the people, I will not say honestly elected, 
for you in the world know how it is done. What 
good has man ever received, or how has he been 
benefitted by a belief and faith in the immaculate 
virgin, and by her giving birth to a miraculously 
begotten God ? This question should not be handled 
lightly, for it is almost two thousand years since it 
was first given to man. 

Since then it has been showed up in every aspect 
to entrap man and chain him to the car of ignorance 
and bigotry. At the present day we see a goodly 
number dragging at its wheels without their being 
benefitted by it or prevented from committing crime. 
Are they more honest than their brother thinker, 
who lives without that faith and belief. This faith 



244 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

has been earnestly promulgated long enough, had it the 
power of truth, to have christianized the world and have 
made it better. Christianity! that word should mean 
something ; to grow better. All the elegant churches in 
this country, with their spires heavenward, should mean 
something — what does it mean? In them we have 
regularly educated and ordained ministers to teach 
man what? honesty, integrity and virtue? better say 
to teach man faith in a dead God, in an immaculately 
begotten Savior. Let us not confound the tw r o. For 
every church we have a prison, not of bare walls and 
tenantless cells, but prisons well filled — nearly every 
one of whose inmates believe in this miraculously 
begotten God and his power to atone for their sins. 
We find even among ministers and divines, that this 
faith has failed to make them better men in earth's 
life. 

As I looked into most of the prisons of this country, 
and examined the ideas and feelings of their inmates, 
I found not one but whose mind had been narrowed 
by church creeds. It cultivates selfishness, bigotry 
and superstition. Show me a man who fully accepts 
the theological creeds of to-day, and I will show you 
a man who has never been a benefactor to a single 
human being, but a man who is proud, self-conceited, 
one-sided in all his views, lives only for himself, thinks 
only of himself, and does only for himself. On the 
other hand show me a man free, independent and 
liberal, and I will show you a man such as has always 
been the philanthropist of this country from its 
earliest times to the present. The word Christian is 
now applied to followers of Christ — believers in a dead 
God. But in its broadest sense, it should mean those 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 245 

whose aspirations are high and holy, whose acts are 
pure and noble, whether they are believers in Christ 
or not. Religion and churches, like this government, 
have grown proud and arrogant, without improving 
humanity. Church creeds have created more war 
and bloodshed, have caused more misery than all other 
things since the earliest records of man. 

This is a fact which can not be gainsayed. In our 
last war the churches claimed the honor of it, and I 
believe the Methodist Church was foremost in the 
ranks'. 

From Franklin to Morse many tried to apply elec- 
tricity, but they succeeded only in part. It will yet 
be further improved upon in its uses. Galileo who 
knew the motion of the earth, has long since gone from 
its face, but the world still moves on in its unvarying 
course. 

Principles are always the same, and will live despite 
every opposition, and all animosity that church creeds 
can bring against them. " Truth is mighty and will 
prevail," was uttered long ago, it has echoed down the 
hill of time, and we shall forever hear its sound. The 
question which should agitate the mind of man to-day 
is, how can the human family be bettered in this life 
in health and happiness? Until we tear away the false 
premises which has been held up to man so long, the 
certain inducements for him to believe a particular 
dogma, we need not expect man to progress in health 
and happiness. Then, on the other hand, let us show 
him he has a God-given individuality, that he being 
the transgressor of law must himself pay the penalty, 
not in words, but in deeds, not in faith, but in acts. 
No atonement can ever relieve him from one single 



246 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

responsibility incurred from his birth. No resurrec- 
tion of any saint or hero of the past can redeem him, 
and no transubstantiation of bread and wine can pro- 
pitiate an angry Deity. I feel humiliated when I 
hear man talk about an angry Deity. I sympathize 
with that man to my innermost depths, for his igno- 
rance in thinking that Deity could be angry. 

I see the shortcomings and feeble impulses of man 
toward right, and until man has a higher, wider and 
better conception of Deity than that, it will be impos- 
sible for him to become better. Deity is omniscient, 
omnipresent, omnipotent, always the same, and without 
change. 

Why not teach children to believe in an unchange- 
able, overruling power, ministering to all men in every 
condition of life ? 'T is the only idea which will help 
them to learn that God is almighty, and powerful and 
immutable. When they have received that idea they 
will feel better, and stronger, and gradually grow bet- 
ter and stronger. I hope to lead you along in this 
until you understand what is more essential for the 
development of our kind. If you teach children er- 
roneous ideas, they will always be felt by them, and 
as long as they are felt, you can not expect them to 
grow in wisdom. Until you can pull the caul from 
over people's eyes, you can not expect them to see, 
and until they can see, you can not improve their 
morals. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 247 



DEATH. 

March 6, 1874.— P. 

Wheresoe'er I go, I see thy footprints, oh Death ! 
Thou hast marked the history of the world with thy 
carnage. The beautiful green earth in its bosom dost 
hold thy form. Not a pilgrim who walks the earth, 
but thou markedst him for thy victim. 

The crowned heads of the mighty nations of the 
earth bow in submission to thy command. Yes, Na- 
poleon thou leaguedst with this mighty monster death, 
and sent many of the children of earth to be consumed 
at thy shrine. But thou too at last became its victim, 
and history has left the record of thy rise and fall, 
but without giving to man any lesson in wisdom and 
and love. Poor France, how the people of thy nation 
have bowed in submission to thy power, oh death ! 
Where now lies thy mighty statesman, who held the 
destiny of thy people in one hand, and the crown in 
the other. He too bowed in silence to thee, and be- 
neath English soil were his bones placed in solitude. 
As I travel along the path of the historic records of 
the past, I see where thou hast strewn thy victims 
thick and many. Oh, poor world ! my heart grieves 
for thee, and my sight fails me when I strive to pene- 
trate to the uttermost every vestige of thy footprints. 
'T is beyond my brightest ken, and as I look down 



248 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

the unfolding future, I see marked along the line evi- 
dences of thy insatiate thirst for life. Thy waste lies 
around left and right, before and behind. Where'er 
I turn my face, I find death has marked his way. 
"And thou shalt surely die," I hear it read from the 
earliest records of history — " man, thou shalt surely 
die ! " Oh, Eternal Father, why hast thou doomed 
thine own begotten, molded by thine own hand in wis- 
dom, breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, and 
then permitted him to be snatched away like a 
whirlwind, and swallowed up in the dark cavern of 
death? 

From the crowned head to the poor beggar, all alike 
dost thy commands obey. Yes ! the tiny infant is not 
exempt from the insatiate greed of this monster. Oh 
let us pause on the brink of this precipice, for I see 
far beneath me the black billows of death. 

I ask why it is ? Why is this beautiful green earth 
so vast a grave-yard ? Why is humanity with all its 
wisdom, wealth, pride and poverty doomed to the same 
mysterious monster death. Oh, is there no escape for 
man from him ? Oh ! Eternal Father of the universe, 
is there no door left ajar for all thy children to march 
through its portals? I feel thine icy hand. I hear 
thy hoarse and quick breathing as my vitals you clasp, 
and I too bow in submission. 

Where now is all my manly pride ? Where now is 
the breath of life that was breathed into my nostrils 
from the great I Am ? I ask, why must I yield up 
this God-given power to live and breathe, and why 
resign this image of its Divine Father ? Disease and 
war alike shatter and destroy the temples God has 
fashioned in his own image. I ask of thee, oh eter- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 249 

nal, unchanging and ever-multiplying Father, why it 
is? And as I walk through this wilderness, oh, let 
some prophet, like Moses of old, strike the rock with 
his w r and, and let the waters of wisdom come forth, 
that I may drink and quench the thirst that devours 
my soul. Yes, let me find the waters of thy hidden 
laws of wisdom, and let thy magic wand, oh prophet, 
point me to the promised land. May I like theew r hen 
on Pisgah's top view the promised land, where no dark 
Jordan rolls between, and where no dreadful storm, 
or horrid night can destroy me and my brother man. 
Silence reigns around, and darkness clothes the mind, 
but that divine breath breathed into man's nostrils by 
our Father, is still by him supplied, and death which 
seems to us such a frightful monster, is but a friendly 
hand, which unlocks the door by which w 7 e enter the 
promised land. Seers and sages of the past, like the 
eagle from his lofty height, have seen pilgrims as 
they crossed the Jordan of death, and ascended to the 
hoped-for promised land beyond the swelling flood. 
There silence reigns around, and although the cannon 
roar, and the lightnings flash, they are unseen, un- 
heard and unfelt, because so far beneath the flight of 
spirit-life. I have spoken of death and his power, 
but have said nothing of death as a divine law, or at- 
tempted to show you the high and holy benefits to 
man, who is its victim, but the subject of law. Man, 
since his creation to the present time, has always been 
subject to law, and will so remain as long as the 
present condition of earth and air exists, and there is 
nothing miraculous connected with death. Let us 
then treat it as a blessing, and not a calamity. 

Disease is natural to the system. Man not knowing 
11* 



250 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

the laws governing health, can not protect himself 
from the conditions which bring disease. 

Its germ is floating in the atmosphere, is attracted to 
and absorbed by the body. All humanity is in perfect 
harmony with the divine laws of death, and when 
mankind are raised above ignorance, prejudice and sec- 
tarian organizations, and look upon death as being the 
same divine law as life, we shall then hope to see them 
in a higher and better condition 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 251 



MORPHESTE. 

March 19, 1874.— J 7 . A. 

I am F. A. Have got a heap to say, but y t is so 
hard ! 

8. My son, you see here another victim of the nar- 
row dogma of the church. Had he known the true 
condition of life after death, he would not have taken 
morphine. He was anxious to talk and send messages, 
but when he came was still under the influence of 
morphine. 

The medium is so sensitive, she partook of his feel- 
ing. I wanted him to try, though I knew he could 
not talk. He wants to talk to his brother. 

He hopes he may be a benefit in coming back to 
earth. He wants to be a benefactor to his earthly 
friends. He wants to remove from them their igno- 
rance in regard to death and their future existence. 
He told me he was conscious after they found him, 
knew when the doctors were with him, heard the man 
call him. but could not answer, was perfectly conscious 
when they came in, but paralyzed from his head down 
— this is why the medium could not move for so long. 
It was very strange it did not effect the brain, while 
it did the muscles of the whole body and heart. 

The brain was cognizant of what was passing. The 
first spirit he saw was his uncle Jack, who died, I 



252 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

believe, when a young man, with cholera, many years 
ago. He did not remember him in earth's life, nor 
know him until told by him who he was. The next 
who took him by the hand was his mother, who put 
her arm around his neck and kissed him. He could 
not then realize that he was yet dead and that his spirit 
was separated from his body. His father next came 
to meet him, (his father was my friend,) yes, and 
that is the reason why he came here to-day, and I 
gave way to him. Both his parents were distressed 
and so was his grandmother, and his grandfather, who 
had been gone from earth many years. His grand- 
mother was an old christian and member of the Bap- 
tist church for many years. She believed in immer- 
sion and all that kind of thing which pertained to her 
church. 

She has now found out these things did not illumi- 
nate her spirit, nor could she then realize the privileges 
of spirit life. The first thing she said to him was 
"poor grandson! what have you done? murdered 
yourself, disgraced your family and broken their 
hearts." He said that he had been crossed, that every- 
thing crossed him, that his trials were greater than his 
faith and that he only sought oblivion from all things. 
He said perhaps if he had not been so prejudiced 
against spiritualism, but have received the true light 
of this life, he would have reflected, he would have 
consulted some friend before taking the fatal step, or 
have avoided it altogether. He says he feels he has 
cast a shadow over the life of his sweet sister and 
distressed the whole family. He says he knows he 
did a great wrong, and that in doing it he has now to 
outgrow and atone for it. That was his word, he 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 253 

can not get rid of the idea of atonement as taught 
him. He has to outgrow and improve his present 
condition. When men find themselves here with all 
their sins, sympathies, desires and misdoings, they 
begin to talk about atoning for them. 

If you give a medicine which poisons, you then 
give an antidote as soon as possible. Now, if you and 
I was fond of atonement, we might say he had to 
atone for his ignorance, in that sense wisdom would 
have been the antidote to such a desperate act. 
Without removing the cause, he has only changed his 
condition. All his faculties are now strong and active, 
his memory is bright, and he is but a step removed 
from the conditions he had hoped to get rid of for- 
ever. When we are tired, sleep restores us, rests our 
faculties, and we wake refreshed; but, when in a 
fit of desperation from disappointment, or whether 
brought about from any other cause, we can not sleep ; 
an overdose of any opiate can not destroy our con- 
sciousness, though it brings death. 

In him the cause has not been changed, only his 
life. He has now waked to a full consciousness of 
his own responsibility. He has no chance now for 
making amends to all on earth, and with all the 
apologies he can make he can never undo the act. 
Morphine is now a great favorite with the young men 
of the day. They know it will destroy consciousness 
of the mind and physical life, but I would advise 
them to investigate a little farther and learn what are 
the conditions of man when he has shaken off the 
shell. 'T is merely a separation of the spirit from the 
physical. 

(F. A. returned and said:) I want to get out of 



254 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

this terrible place. Would like to get away from here. 
Have not been able to see anything beautiful nor 
enjoy anything since that fatal day. Can't get away 
from myself. 'T is like my shadow wherever I go. If 
I could get somebody to take me away. Do n't believe 
anybody can do it but you. (How can I?) Don't 
know, you can do a great deal. If I was back to 
earth I would be ready to stand all I had and more. 
I can't see anything, it is so gloomy. Your father tells 
me of bright places, but I have never seen them. 
(F. A. written through a different medium, March 23, 
1874.) I tried so hard the other day to say what I 
wished, but could not. You are rather selfish with 
Mrs. Ward. You was provoked at me, but indeed I 
did my best to talk, but could not. Oh, I have suffered 
so much since I left your earth, but not much more 
than while there, because I was disappointed and 
miserable. I knew that no one had any respect for 
me, and no mother would have been willing that her 
daughter should marry me, and oh, what a good thing 
I did not marry, for what could I have promised any 
woman ? There was one whom I would have given my 
life for, but oh! I had sense enough to know I could 
not make her happy. Even now I would hate to see 
any other man claim her, for she is too good for any 
man. (Mrs. Ward must be for higher uses ; I am not 
selfish, came here to hear from you.) I beg your 
pardon, I judged you wrongfully as many do. I hope 
to know you better now, as my opportunities are so 
much better than they once were. Oh ! do tell every 
one never to destroy their own lives. 'T is such suf- 
fering. I knew everything that passed, but could not 
speak. I did it because I was tired of life — but whose 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 255 

fault was it? all mine. I knew that I could have 
done well, was capable of making a living — but 
whisky was my ruin, and it is the ruin of so many 
noble men. Now madam, you are very kind to write 
for me and I do appreciate it. Mrs. Ward talks for 
so few — my friend you are right. 

I listened to her that day and was much astonished 
that she could talk so well, and your father controls 
her with so much ease. Please tell my brother that I 
am better off than he thinks. I am not punished in 
bell fire, but from conscience. 

That was bad enough in earth's life but worse here, 
and that is the hell the bible speaks of. My brother 
was kind to me and tried hard to reform me. I did 
not appreciate it at the time, but do now, when it is too 
late. I will only try to do my duty now, for I see 
that those who try the hardest are the happiest. 



256 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



NO CHANGE IN DEATH. 

April 16, 1874.— J". B. F. 

I can sympathize with you, sir, having traveled the 
same road. Youth is the spring-time of life, and 
every success we then have is appreciated. I taught 
school to prepare myself for the ministry. I have 
had some experience in the same field with yourself 
in Nashville, and with the same people you have as- 
sociated with. We may not always succeed to the 
fullest of our ambition and desires, and as we grow old, 
the shadows are deeper as they are cast over us. It 
is the sunshine of hope in youth that dims misfortune. 
It casts it behind us when we go forth hopeful, and 
battle with the things around us, whether in meta- 
physics, or in the common conditions of life. I had 
much to contend with in the ministry at the altar of 
a congregation in your city. I felt I had made warm 
and lasting impressions on my congregation, and that 
my ministry was a success. I then felt I was com- 
pensated for my early struggles, and efforts to over- 
come the difficulties with which I had been surrounded. 
But when I set sail in a bold progress, and those sails 
were filled, taking in the full field of life above sec- 
tarian bigotry, I found mutiny at once in my little 
flock, which I had gathered around me. This flock 
was large in comparison to some, but small in com- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 257 

parison to the whole. Bickering and hatred blended 
together, they seethed and foamed until they poisoned 
my whole life. Afflicted as I was physically, this great 
disappointment was too much for my body to endure, 
but never did it cloud or trample my spirit desires. 
Sooner than be clouded by ambition of earthly life, 
and bound to people and opinion, I w T ould sacrifice 
every worldly prospect known to the highest ambition 
of man. 

I did not succeed in life as I desired. I did not 
arouse people from their indifference to truth and right, 
but my failure to do so does not prove it a failure. 

There shall one come after me who will succeed. I 
see the banner which shall float over the liberty of the 
human mind. Liberty is all essential to progress, 
peace, harmony and happiness. Not only liberty to 
our religious opinions, but in all other questions per- 
taining to our welfare. Whatever apparent failure 
was mine, I am now fully compensated, when above 
the flesh. 

I now realize the sublime truth of the communion 
of spirit with mortal. Such a truth should make 
every heart glad ; should make every individual re- 
joice at the unfolding of such a grand and glorious 
privilege. The success of this truth is one of the 
greatest triumphs granted to this or any generation. 
It takes away from mortality all doubts of immortality. 

It takes away the superstition attached to all reli- 
gion, and reveals to the human family their birthright 
in God. It teaches man that he is a pilgrim of earth 
journeying on, and when he enters what is often called 
the river of death, that there is no cessation of life. 

It is only a continuance of that which he felt and 



258 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

realized when upon earth. His mind, with all his 
faculties passes along through this struggle without 
losing any of the power it possessed in life. It is only 
separated from the physical body, leaving it with all 
its pains to mother earth, while the spirit or inner 
man takes up its journey in the invisible world to 
man, but only invisible to him in his finite condition. 
It continues its usefulness and activity which was de- 
nied to it in earth's life by sickness, weakness and all 
the struggles of early youth. 

Whenever I have found an opportunity to commune, 
have always embraced it joyfully, and desire to do so 
as long as I find one who wishes that communion. In 
earth's life my desire was to improve man, and now 
my every thought is brought into action for the benefit 
of my kind. As I stood at the altar of my church, 
and offered bread and wine to comfort despairing mor- 
tals, so do I now stand in the sanctuary of my spirit 
home, and offer them the wine of life, and the pure 
bread of heaven, that they may partake of it, not as 
an invisible substance, but as a spiritual reality. This 
is the invisible bread which alone can sustain us in the 
darkest trials of life. Confidence in it alone can only 
spring from a clear and unselfish mind. I feel myself 
a unit in this great cause which is now agitating the 
minds of mankind. For awhile our pathway may ap- 
pear dark and uncertain, but with patience and for- 
bearance, if we are girded with energy and hope, 
always trying to do all in our power to help those 
around us, we will wend our way along the sandy shores 
of life in pleasure and contentment. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 259 



ALL TRAVEL THE SAME ROAD. 

April 16, 1874.— P. 

Yes ! earth is a sandy shore in which all mankind 
leave footprints. We trace some by the scientific dis- 
coveries they have made, and left to mark their way, 
while others have scratched away in the rubbish 
to hoard up the wealth of nations, and have left their 
marks as millionaires. Men, like dogs, vary in size, 
from the large mastiff to the tiny little spaniel at our 
feet. Some are docile and passive, while others are 
ferocious, and would rend us limb from limb. Yes, we 
are a poor sickly race at best, and yet we prate of our 
knowledge and importance. We erect monuments to 
men's worth, and cast statues for public places to mark 
the greatness of man. 

Yes ! I said the greatness of man. Some are so great 
and powerful we have to cage them. We have to edu- 
cate a special class for the purpose to direct and coun- 
sel them, to plead their cause, and set them free, and 
it matters not whether the culprit be innocent or guilty. 
I say his guilt matters not, so his lawyers have sharp 
wit and sarcasm to win his cause, then he is again turned 
loose to prowl upon his fellow man, like the wolf upon 
the traveler in the desert. Our greatness seems to be 
on the extreme shore of life, far away from common 
associations, and it is not until man is dead, and he 



260 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

can harm us no more do we discover his goodness 
and begin to prate of his greatness. 

Some may cry and some may laugh, some may 
gnash their teeth and swear, still we all belong to one 
family, are marching the same road, are from the 
same beginning, and will fill the same destiny. Aside 
from the greatness I spoke of, some men, like little 
dogs, are too small to be great, and thus pass unseen; 
nevertheless, they leave their footprints on the shore 
of time. 

To them also must the heavy door of death open 
and creak as their spirit tears asunder its rusty bars. 

As I now stand upon this lofty eminence overlook- 
ing the valley of earth, and witnessing the exit of 
great men, as well as small ones, I can not help 
philosophizing upon their varied conditions and sur- 
roundings. I see one as he struggles in poverty and 
hardship, with his hard knotty hands, sunburnt face 
and coarse rusty clothes, struggling with earth for a 
mere pittance to sustain his existence — and what does 
he find at the end of his journey. The same great 
door to pass through, that the millionaire has just 
entered, and with the same experience. Yes! he too 
felt the feeble pangs of death as it paralyzed him; 
he felt its icy hand clutch at his throat — and as 
the hilltops fade away when night gathers o'er earth, 
so fades everything from man's earthly vision. Yes! 
he feels cold and chilly at the sensation we call death, 
but as soon as he again opens his eyes he beholds the 
sunrise, which gilds everything in the spirit land. 
He then looks around and finds himself the same 
man, minus his horny hands, his sunburnt face and 
his rusty clothes. Oh yes! you are all equal here. No 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 261 

monument was erected to your fame, no statue set up 
to tell of some noble pursuit you had followed and 
obtained its prize. So your honest struggle of 
industry for the mere pittance you received has left 
no black stain upon your soul, nor cast a murky cloud 
around your pathway. How many poor children 
struggle along the same path of poverty, with no 
reward save the approbation of an honest conscience. 
It will be the staff to bear thee up through the river 
of death, and herald the sunlight of happiness in that 
country to which thou art going. It is the same road 
which all must travel. One man is full of activity 
and ambitious schemes to rise above his fellow man, 
and leave behind something which will overshadow 
those who may come after him. Another is godlike, 
noble and great, and he has been striving to unlock 
the mysterious laws which gird the universe. Man 
has tried to throw open the doors of knowledge and 
see the wonderful workings of the laws of quantities 
in all nature around him. He has tried to sound the 
uttermost depths of ocean and learn what is there. 

He has tried to unravel the laws of creation, and 
learn what was its first properties and what mighty 
forces fastened them together. He would learn the 
attractive forces in all the elements of nature working 
and harmonizing all active power. He would learn 
God, all powerful and all wise, yet so mysterious and 
shadowy that mind can not comprehend him. Man 
has gigantic powers of mind which he inhales in the 
air, takes in his food, and imbibes from everything 
around him. If man's brain is in harmony with the 
immutable laws of nature around him, he can adapt 
himself freely to all the conditions of those laws, and 



262 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

learn from whence they came, the beginning and end. 
As our world is in beautiful harmony with all those 
around us, so is man when he learns the truth and 
rises above prejudice, superstition and war which has 
so long degraded him, and desecrated this beautiful 
earth. As I stand on this lofty eminence and see 
man struggling in the watery element of discord, 
which is ready to submerge him, I would, if possible, 
reach forward and assist him. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 263 



METAPHYSICS. 

April 19, 1874— F. 

Tis said in the inspired book, "the wind bloweth 
wheresoever it listeth, and we know not from whence 
it cometh or whither it goeth," and so with man, he 
cometh forth as the grass of the field and fadeth away, 
and who can gay where he has gone ? He spoke from 
the fullest feelings of his nature and from the best 
experience of his age. At that period there was a 
great deal of doubt of what would befall man at 
death, Metaphysics is no new idea in the scientific 
world, for man was a metaphysician, so to speak, 
before he had any idea of life after the death of the 
physical frame, consequently the idea of immortality 
is no new idea recently sprung in the scientific mind. 
Man in all ages since he became man, and had reason- 
ing faculties, began to think what would be his fate 
when he no longer dwelt on earth. It was from self- 
ishness' born within him, and it is owing to its culti- 
vation what becomes its strength. He wished to 
penetrate the shadows beyond the mere normal man. 
He saw him in the prime of life in buoyancy of spirit 
and in his power of intellect subjugating savage 
nature around him, and like Alexander searching for 
new conquests, and he was not satisfied at the mere 
knowledge of material things. He sought in meta- 



264 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

physics something connecting him with all time. He 
was not willing to give up his birthright at the pass- 
ing away of the flesh, but clung to something beyond. 
He then sprung the question, whether he faded away 
like the flowers, or if fate had something in store for 
him in the future? Men were divided on those im- 
portant points, and so a tumult of ideas arose from 
this question. Finally it was settled by selfish priests 
who ordained a dogma, and inaugurated it in order 
that the wolves might prey upon the lambs. 

This was a long time back. Previous to that time 
was idolatry, the worshipping of idols, for when man 
could not comprehend the things around him, he then 
instituted symbols to worship, which were according 
to the highest idea of power he had. They thought 
these symbols might lead man to a higher and finer 
sense of the internal law, which works within all 
things around, above and below. But when the 
mind of one generation created symbols for his brother 
man to worship in a succeeding generation, and 
hands them down through bickerings, ignorance and 
superstition, we then see he has lost all true sense of 
worship. From striving to worship an invisible 
spirit through symbols, we see the symbols now wor- 
shipped, and idolatry of every character scattered 
broadcast throughout the world. In the earliest 
records we see immortality dimly shadowed, but some- 
thing to worship set forth in bold relief. 

We see the priest then making man his subject, 
exercising authority over him, and claiming to be the 
priesthood after the order of Melchisidec. All this 
hereditary grandeur, title and power has been brought 
down to us in this century. The most primitive 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 265 

Christianity was not without authority over its 
followers. 

To speak more definitely, man has always sought to 
make his brother man subservient to his wish and 
will. Though the priests had arbitrary control, yet 
we find that heretics sprung up all along the pilgrim- 
age of life, that is, heretics to the popular belief and 
faith in a creed and dogma. Step by step from the 
most remote period of which man has any record, do 
we see progressive light as it flickers and fades, then 
gathers new force, and lives on struggling through 
wars, and through the rise and fall of great empires. 
Yes, this light, struggling for existence amidst the 
tumult and desolation of earth, has little by little 
aroused humanity, and prompted man to culture and 
refinement. 

Yes, it was this light which has prompted man in 
every age to improvement, and not any dogma nor 
creed ever promulgated by priest or potentate. This 
feeling which sprang up in the mind of man to live 
beyond this life, was the same light of divinity that 
illuminated the pathway to metaphysics. We see so- 
ciety bound together in a better condition, building 
up a higher form of association, until civilization now 
almost covers this planet. 

It has not been the result of a creedal faith pro- 
mulgated by priests, and inherited from a church, but 
from a living and divine principle within man's own 
breast. Civilization is the highest point which man 
could accomplish through the obstacles and conflicts 
which have always surrounded him. He can stand 
upon one era after another, and look forward for 
something better. While man is standing upon this 
12 



266 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

eminence, we feel sad to see him stepping down again 
to embrace a dogma. We should be glad to point out 
something better for him. From the most remote pe- 
riod we see coming down to us, pestilence, famine, 
earthquakes, and those violent convulsions of the ele- 
ments which have so agitated the physical world. 
Man stands aghast when he beholds some terrible 
calamity fall upon his nation and people. 

At such a time some who are so very Christian, 
claiming to have all knowledge in their creed, pro- 
claim that it was the wickedness of man which brought 
those evils upon him; that those tribulations were be- 
cause of man's transgressions and violation of the 
moral law. Violated law ! Man should pause before 
he utters such a sentiment, and inquire, can a man 
or a nation violate or break God's law ? We may 
struggle all along the pilgrimage of life to find God, 
but we can find him only in parts, and recognize him 
only by our own experience. As each man finds only 
a part of God, the whole human family can not find 
the whole of God in a decade. Only as much of God 
as every individual is capable of taking in and enjoy- 
ing, can he understand. As life is divine in its physical 
as well as in its spiritual condition, so we should be 
careful of man's health. We should not only pray 
to elevate man's spiritual condition, but also to culti- 
vate man's mind to live in harmony with the laws of 
health. Now this is an important thing for all reli- 
gious people in Christendom, and for all men on earth 
to learn. What can we do to make man better? 
What new principles can we inaugurate to purify man, 
woman and child physically and morally ? What can 
we do for man which will take away his appetite for 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 267 

the blood of his fellow man, so that he may not be 
like Cain, an outcast and stranger in his own country ? 
Yes, the basis of society must be truth, as deep, broad 
and universal as man. I know we have had one 
reformation after another to improve civilization, to 
better humanity, and to take away wickedness and 
crime from society, and cement it with brotherly love. 
I see churches fail to accomplish this, because they are 
not united. I see other organizations upon a broad 
ba-is of brotherhood, which have done a great deal of 
good ; they have cultivated man in a broader sense than 
the Christian religion, for when we bind ourselves to a 
dogma, and point out another man to mark our road, 
we then can not devote ourselves to truth, and in this 
manner sell our birthright. We then lose our good 
influence upon man which we would have if more 
lenient, more liberal, and more fraternal in our asso- 
ciations. 

Religion has become a speculation, and looks forward 
to the wealth of the church, in having property to a 
large amount, building stately edifices, containing a 
large organ, with fine music and comfortable pews. 
Then we must have fine equipages for its members to 
come there in, and everything in the most extravagant 
style. But behold squalid poverty and want, like the 
hungry wolf, beneath their very doors. Yes beneath 
the steeple is crime of the deepest dye and blackest 
cast. In your very midst are those smoking hells, 
which are kept up in such extravagant style. The re- 
ligion of to-day does not reform society, it only panders 
to the appetites and passions of men and women who 
enjoy every luxury to be found, no matter how the 
means to do so were obtained, whether by honest in- 



268 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

dustry or by robbing others. The passion for wealth 
has burst on the world like a tornado, and the desire 
for it is tearing out the vitals of men and women, and 
distressing them in every condition of life, and yet 
this is a Christian country. We see some women who 
devote their lives to Christianity, deeply vailed to ob- 
scure all pride and worldly ambition. They are 
plodding along the narrow path of dogma too dirty 
for the monks of the first century. 'Tis nineteen 
hundred years since the Apostles went out to preach 
the Gospel of Christ to the Jews of Nazareth. 

It was then given free of charge. They had no 
costly edifices with large bells to call together the con- 
gregation. They had no extravagant altars, or vessels 
for their burnt offerings. They had no wine, nor 
sacrificing of the first of the flock, as had been done 
in earlier times. Without scrip went they forth to 
preach the brotherhood of man to all, both Jews and 
Gentiles, and if it was free in any respect it should 
be free to all. They partook with their fingers in the 
same dish. Christ said "he that dippeth his hand with 
me in the dish, the same shall betray me." How simple, 
yet how beautiful was that supper. It was not in a 
grand and costly hall, with all the beautiful articles 
of every variety which man has invented for his own 
use. Imagine the picture, like little children sitting 
at their mother's feet, with full confidence in all save 
one. How must that one have felt if there had been 
developed in him one spark of humanity? but no, he 
was spiritually dead. The man who partook of that 
meal was dead to all the finer feelings of the soul, dead 
to truth, honor, and the welfare of the human race. 
Churches are filled with Judas's to-day. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 269 

Our executive halls are filled with men corrupted 
with all kinds of dishonor that a Judas ever possessed. 
Our President is a disgrace to the nation, and dead to 
the welfare of the people under his control. Cur- 
rency is his idol. It matters not to him whether it 
be in houses and lands, so it is something tangible. He 
likes horses, fine equipages, magnificent dinners, and 
a fine establishment for his guests. A simple dish 
would not answer for him, the President of this Ee- 
public. 

I refer to the President, because of his position, and 
as a sample to mankind, then draw conclusions between 
his gold and himself. Jesus, the God of the Christians, 
lived in beautiful simplicity, in the dignity of man- 
hood, in brotherly affection, associating with the me- 
chanic and fishermen, curing the blind and the lame ; 
all, all alike partook of the benefits of his power. 

Jesus had not wealth to build fine churches, but he 
did have that which the Christian Church has not 
now, viz., a simple spirit of truth and honor. The 
highest executive officer in Church and State does not 
possess on jot of the godlike attributes he worships 
so devoutly. I will not detain you longer, though I 
feel as if I could talk a week. I try to bring up 
and speak of that which will benefit mankind. The 
oak does not grow in a day. So I will sow the seed 
of truth, which, though small, it will grow; yes like 
the mustard seed, which, although small, grew so the 
birds of the air came and lodged in its branches; so 
will truth increase, until man learns what freedom is. 
Oh, how I like that word; it seems so broad that it 
takes all mankind in its embrace. 

In a free country w r e should all have the privileges 



270 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

of manhood, and yet it seems but little freedom is 
doled out to the people of this country. I would say 
that the people of this country are the worst slaves 
on earth, the hottentots not excepted, for they have 
more freedom than the citizens of this country. 

There is a beautiful monument erected to the first 
noble statesman of this country, which stands in a 
conspicuous place at Washington as a type of a free 
country. Under its shadow we behold all manner of 
corruption from the highest to the lowest grade, as I 
sometimes think crime has its heights and depths. 

We have laws to prohibit and punish such crimes 
as theft and murder. We see prison walls frowning 
with all their dismal abodes, in which the poor are 
incarcerated if they have not sense enough to go into 
all the schemes of Church and State, which are so 
essential in order to be a respectable member of 
society. It requires both wealth and office to make 
man an influential and honorable man. 

We see in the daily papers the Hon. Mr , has 

arrived. Oh what mockery. Man's honor should be 
in his face, and not in the newspaper, in the every- 
day acts of his life and not in an advertised honor, 
like a circus or other show. What can we do to 
remedy those evils, is the all important question. A 
few days since, we saw where a man killed his brother 
man, and has left a lasting impression upon his father's 
heart. He has left the murderer's grip upon that no- 
ble and aged parent's life, fooprints too deep to be 
obliterated in time or eternity. Let mankind begin to 
learn the lesson of reformation, learn that whatever 
it does, whether man's acts be good or bad, so shall be 
his spirit with or without a scar. Any spirit trammeled 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 271 

with crime, can not pray it off, neither can crime be 
sold for money. 

Man must outlive it as he in earth's life outlives his 
scars. Every scar of his nature will have to be oblit- 
erated by a straightforward, honest course until man 
becomes pure. Let man stand upon an equal base 
with other men, and not call any man honorable when 
he knows he is not, for if he does, he then leaves a 
scar on his own spirit. 

Man's temple of honor must be founded upon truth, 
and not upon his position or equipages. 

If we start out with honesty and truth, as we go for- 
ward it will gather new strength, until it will dispel 
every conflict and overcome every obstacle. As we 
thus proceed we shall be freed from selfishness and 
crime, and they will be like the drift on the waters, 
thrown aside in masses, while the purified stream 
continues its course. May God bless you, my brother, 
and may you find the good you are seeking. May 
the spirit of love hover around thy home forever- 
more. May this spirit of progress speed its course 
till this whole city is awakened to its truth. May we 
all realize the divine spirit within us, and may it bring 
us hope amid the sea of strife. May no cloud obscure 
the sun of righteousness, and may it shine on us in 
our darkest trials of life. 



272 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



MAN SPEAKS, ALTHOUGH HE BE DEAD. 

Apbil 21, 1874— F. 

God bless you, my niece. I love you for your 
mother's sake, as well as your own. We see the dis- 
pensation of a wise providence, as everything is better 
suited here this morning than could have been other- 
wise. I accepted the privilege of having our friend 
to write what I might say, as having a copy to read 
is of more value than any verbal communication. 
My soul thrills this morning with emotion too deep 
for words. I was brought here by immutable laws 
as old as the mighty hills which surround this city, 
yet they are unrecognized by man, save to a limited 
extent. I say the immutable privilege of speaking 
to you, not from the grave, although one has said 
that if man came from the grave, he could not con- 
vince the children of men, nor the rich man's brothers. 
Are there not many rich men now, and a Lazarus at 
their doors praying for the crumbs which fall from 
their tables? Taking away the figurative meaning, I 
would say bread is not the only staff of life, of which 
man desires the crumbs, but a knowledge of our 
birthright, our inheritance from God; that man 
speaks, although he be dead. 

Yes! physically dead to the mortal conditions 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 273 

which surround him, but alive to all those noble 
sentiments which inspire him with love for his kind. 
For a moment 1 feel translated above and beyond 
the narrow limits of earth, taking in the mighty uni- 
verse of our Father, which existed before the present 
period. 

I feel as when a child on my mother's knee with my 
father's love. Afterward I advanced to the pride of 
my manhood, and now. recall the home of my parents, 
brothers and sisters, who were under their immediate 
care, love and protection, with the deepest and fondest 
affection. At that time my parents were absorbed in 
the welfare of their children. The kindness, patient 
care and anxiety of those parents, has kindled in our 
hearts the most tender affection, which has burned 
brighter every step we have taken in life. After I 
left home I was constantly looking back there at those 
loving faces, and although their brows were wrinkled, 
yet how gentle, young and sweet did those eyes always 
beam on me. To-day, although passed from earth, 
I still enjoy the privilege of visiting them, and have 
come back, with my aged father by my side, to pay a 
last tribute of respect to my only earthly parent. 

I would give her hope and courage when she passes 
from the visible to the invisible, from the transitory 
scenes of life, to those as real or even more so. We 
are not separated by the same finite condition here, 
but we are like the sunlight, mingling in one con- 
tinual harmony. To each one I would speak separ- 
ately. 

To L , whose young sweet face looked upon 

me with such devotion whenever I visited home, but 
now she is a w T ife and mother. Oh, may her life be 
12* 



274 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

hopeful and happy, and may she be able to lay aside 
the cares of life and gird herself with the armor of 
hope, which will sustain her in every trial of life. 

Yes my dear sweet sister M , may you too feel 

encouraged by all the evidences of our return, and of 
the visitations of spirit to mortals. May it be a con- 
tinual light to your innermost soul, dispelling all 
gloom from your path. May each brother go forward 
in this great and noble privilege. May you all 
search for these hidden mysteries, hidden because 
ignorant of its principles. Seek until you find that 
which alone can satisfy the hungry soul. May the 
young children from the parent stem, who are still 
treading the shores of time, be filled with hope and 
buoyancy. May they too give response to the intelli- 
gence around them and to every noble impulse of life. 
May they feel with the poet of old, "Tis not all of 
life to live and not all of death to die!" 

As the light of my sweet mother dims to earth, 
may every child who follows her have hope and con- 
solation as she passes through the portals which 
conveys her un trammeled to a higher, freer and nobler 
existence. May they feel it is no chamber of death 
there, and no corpse for them to mourn over. May 
they be happy, rejoicing that the frail barque of 
life is rent asunder, and the freed spirit has taken its 
flight to the bright realities of that home, to which 
all are pilgrims tending from earth. When we have 
consummated life upon earth, when we have discharged 
all its conditions and duties, we should feel glad when 
the important moment comes, and the spirit takes its 
exit. 

No fears, no doubts should then cast a black 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 275 

cloud over our spiritual eye, nor should we have re- 
grets that in the buoyancy of youth we left our w 7 ork 
undone. We should not then desire that co-partner- 
ship to exist any longer. 

" Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou 
into the joys of thy Lord," was not more true of the 
people of Judea than of this nation. Many bright 
opportunities to do good shall be offered to you ; may 
not one of them escape you, and may you live up to the 
highest impulses of duty. May you be free from the pre- 
judices and pride which poisons the hearts of so many 
of this generation. May you rise above all those con- 
ditions that so often seem barriers to the noblest im- 
pulses of your soul, and may you leave them behind 
you as the bright sunshine of to-day has left in the 
past the murky clouds of yesterday. 

May the high and noble principles within you ex- 
tend to those around you, and hold them subservient. 
May each day of your life bring some token of the 
sweet association of those w T ho have left earth. 

We are still united to those on earth, and also in- 
terested in your spiritual welfare and happiness. 

May that firm and honest father of yours have 
every privilege granted to him to enjoy hope in its 
fullest extent. May he cultivate it to the highest 
point possible to man. May his associations teach him 
the affinity of spirit and mortal, and may he feel an 
assimilation of the light of those who so often hover 
around him. May he realize the unspoken words of 
kindness from their lips, and amidst whatever winds 
of adversity that blow, may he know that his own soul 
will be a sure success in the higher realms of 
man. 



276 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

This thought will sustain him through the darkest 
trials of life. 

The intelligence of man can never be lost nor impaired. 
These moments of my spirit-life will go with me into 
the future, giving happiness. 

Know then that we are not deprived of the associa- 
tions and pleasures of earth, although the body has 
passed away. Kiss the children for me. May love 
still dwell in their hearts. 

Death severs no tie of affection, nor does it remove 
any responsibility from man, and how glad I am to 
say nor any privilege of doing good. This to my mother, 
sisters and brothers, and all who may be interested in 
me. Your faithful and devoted son and brother *' *. 
Let us rise above the tangible to-day, and as the sun- 
beams touch our earth, so let this light touch our 
affections, and kindle them for good all of our future 
life. 

Standing upon the verge, and looking back upon 
the earth, it seems submerged by bigotry and supersti- 
tion, until civilization is almost ready to be swept beneath 
its murky waters. One said, " I came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance ;" so I came not 
to-day for any selfish motive. I am but fulfilling the 
divine law, that we can and do hold tangible com- 
munion with those in the flesh, and to demonstrate 
it to a certainty. Madam, you must not be too 
selfish. 

May you all feel a portion of this love which I gave 
to my sisters, that time can not diminish. As I see 
them struggling in misfortune, I find they are equal to 
it, and accept the privilege to battle with life. Until 
man learns to use all of the elements around him, he 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 277 

can not conquer all the obstacles to his career. Did 
he not control fire, but build it in the middle of the 
room, it might burn down his house. So with water, 
and so with electricity. Did he not understand the 
proper quantity of medicine to give, he might poison. 

We must control these elements, and not feel we are 
their slaves. 

We must not be a vagabond when we have truths so 
grand. Yes ! wealth should sink into insignificance 
when compared to them. 

Look at the miser counting his gold, and yet he feels 
almost ready to die from poverty. 

A mind so contracted can not have an idea above 
the heavy metal, and he will sink below the sea of his 
groveling appetite. Man can not live without warm 
clothing and plain diet. May enough to replenish 
man alw T ays be furnished by the earth with the return 
of Spring and Summer, after the Winter has gone. 
Man should have more expanded ideas than houses, 
land and raiment. He should not allow his morbid 
appetite for hoarding wealth to dwarf the sensibili- 
ties of his soul. God created all things for man's 
good. 

In the first chapter of the orthodox Bible, we learn 
that man was placed in the garden of Eden with fruits 
for food. He did not build a church, and appoint 
priests to minister therein, nor build an altar for man 
to sacrifice the best of his flock thereon. Let us feel 
that we are in the garden of Eden, with the tree of 
knowledge and wisdom for us to partake of, and be 
wise. 

Let us rise above selfishness which impoverishes so 
many, as avarice does the miser, when he gloats over 



278 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

his gold. Let us beware of the subtile influence of 
selfishness. Tis like the serpent coiling in the tree 
of the garden, and instilling into man mercenary mo- 
tives to garner the fruits and seeds to buy wealth and 
grandeur. Let us be free and independent, and par- 
take of the tree of knowledge and love. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 279 



BEAUTIFUL SHORE. 

April 25, 1874.— H. C. 

Yes, the sun shines as bright as ere the cloud o'er- 
spread the sky. We heard the wind as it sobbed and 
sighed among the trees. Shadows, dark shadows too, 
obscured our path, yet we lingered, slowly to catch 
one ray from his hidden beams. 

Yes, slowly and sadly we wend our way. How sad! 
yet I hear sweet birds singing, and know there is a 
dear bower near. I smell the fresh perfume as it is 
wafted from a garden near. I know it can not be al- 
ways dark. I know the clouds can not always hover 
so near. Yes ! shadows across my path are flung, yet 
I hear the rippling of the water, and see dimly the 
outlines of that shore which I soon shall reach. Yes, 
I already hear the boat as it touches the shore. By 
the twinkling stars which break through the gloom I 
see the form of one as he approaches. 

Yes, their light dispels the dark clouds that around 
me were thrown. I see him more distinctly now, 't is 
a loved one I long ago have known. 'T is a bright 
face I have seen before, for it smiles on me, and says, 
sister, come with me, and I will row thee safely tp 
the other shore, where long I have waited and watched 
for thy coming, that I might bear thee to my spirit 



280 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

home. Beautiful shore is this, with sands so white, 
and flowers all bright. 

Oh, hear the sweet music, as from a loved one's 
hand who would welcome thee. Yes, welcome thee, 
for I have felt sad and lonely since I parted from 
thee, and my dear friends on the other shore. So 
close were we that I heard thy sweet voice as it 
sounded soft and low in the still chamber of death. 
All, all is peace. Oh, sweet sisters, peace to thy 
troubled heart, for thine own dear one from thee shall 
never depart. This was impromptu. 

It might have been better had I more time. I came 
here to say a few words to you, and met your friend 
here, who was so anxious for her family all to know 
she was not dead. Wish I was equal to some great 
poet, as then I would send a piece of poetry to you 
for yourself. It seems to me that you live on the 
confines of two existences, life and death, you dis- 
course with the invisible and to the visible. One 
should be happy, endowed with such divine privileges. 
All those great minds who have trod the experience 
of two existencies, are giving you hints of nature, of 
the condition of the inner man, as well as the exter- 
nal man. Your friend wanted me to give the poetry 
to her husband, but he could not appreciate it like 
the family. We told her we would assist her to write 
to him. She was a great favorite with her grand- 
mother, who came in the boat with her brother-in-law. 
You gave her great comfort, she had full confidence 
in you. She had a dread of death. This is the reason 
why I spoke of clouds over her pathway, and said all 
seemed so gloomy. It was so hard for her to go 
away, and leave her husband and child, and family, 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 281 

and she was always miserable whenever she thought 
of it. Her sister came to meet her, and kissed her, 
and played for her when they got home. 'T is a nice 
sweet home, with everything to enjoy. The only sor- 
row she now has is that they are sad at home. She 
wants them to feel as if she had not gone away, but 
was still up stairs as in earth's life. 



282 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



EIGHT HAND OF GOD. 

Apkil 25, 1874.— S. 

My son, I could not stay away any longer. I had 
no desire but to help this frail creature, and thought 
it best to let her 'speak first, so gave her the prefer- 
ence. (Her communication is omitted.) 

You see she is another victim of the church, bent 
under the weight of superstition. It clouds the in- 
tellect, and dulls the spirit until it can not realize its 
own condition, unless assisted from the spirit world. 
This class of people are all the time coming across, 
and every time I see one, I gather new strength and 
resolution to try and pave a better way for poor mor- 
tals to travel. 

Yes, a broader and better way to throw in more 
light to mark the road. It is very essential we should 
do this. There is a great responsibility resting on the 
men of the nineteenth century, that is those who are 
all the time striving to mislead and enthrall humanity 
in regard to the future. If a man does not positively 
know a scientific problem, lie should not assert any- 
thing in regard to it as certain and true. We know 
it is difficult for man to fathom the future, and, there- 
fore, he should be circumspect, and mark well his way, 
noticing carefully the premises laid down on all meta- 
physical questions. They demand the utmost care, 
and should not be treated lightly. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 283 

It is an easy matter for a man to rant and promul- 
gate a dogma, but to prove it beyond contradiction is 
the important point. Every man should have this in 
view when he sets out to instruct his fellow man in 
regard to the future. 

I could give the ministers of this age some very 
good advice in regard to this matter, and also teach 
them how to live. They should leave out, and not 
dictate to others what they themselves do not under- 
stand. Let man have ev°ry benefit he can while he 
lives. If preachers can not instruct man in knowl- 
edge and truth which will benefit him, they had better 
leave out of the question the unexplored future. Let 
them admit the fact, and say they know nothing 
about that. 

Let them not say the Apostles and Prophets knew 
all about the future, and that God instructed them 
from his own mouth. Let them not say Almighty 
God was partial to that particular age two thousand 
years ago. That he then ate and drank with man, 
showed himself to him, walked with him; that he 
wrought innumerable miracles of all descriptions, and 
then " ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right 
hand of God." 

Now that is the point I intend discussing. You 
need no special reference, for you can find this in the 
New Testament, from Matthew to Revelations. It is 
filled with miraculous accounts of the words and acts 
of Christ, as the church says, of the God, the very 
God. Many of these sayings I accept as truthful and 
highly beautiful, and while divines are speaking so elo- 
quently in regard to those things, I wonder they do 
not make better deductions from them. I should think 



284 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

they would draw from them broader lines of philan- 
thropy, brotherly love, charity and the finer sensibilities 
of man, which should be cultivated by him. If Jesus 
Christ was the only begotten Son of God, it is time 
that man on earth should begin to know how he has 
been occupied for the last nineteen hundred years? 
We have an account only of his three years' ministry 
in the New Testament. 

From that we learn that he was active, energetic, 
industrious, and of great usefulness and benefit to man- 
kind at that time. I say it with the deepest reverence, 
he was a benefit to man at that time in its highest and 
deepest sense. The Apostles saw him ascend into 
heaven, and they conclude metaphysically that he sat 
down at the right hand of God. Now just before he 
arrived at his seat the Apostles lost sight of him, so it 
is merely a supposition that he is sitting there. Now 
we must suppose that he is engaged in something (ad- 
mitting he does sit there according to the teachings of 
divines) and must have a purpose and aim in being 
there. The right hand has a signification, and we 
should try and apply it in our own mind. Now I will 
take him up w T here the divines leave him, and add an- 
other supposition. Remember, we have now left 
tangible things, and launched into metaphysics, for 
in this broad field alone can we find an answer to the 
question, what has Christ been doing all those nine- 
teen hundred years, since he left his Apostles? 

'T is written that it was spoken by God of him, 
that " this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased." According to that history, this child of 
the Nazarene met the full approbation of his divine 
Father. I refer to this, it being essential you should 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 285 

know in what favor and relation he stood in regard 
to the great " I Am." Is it reasonable or natural 
then to suppose that this favored Son should sit with 
folded hands, looking" upon the dark and bloody 
struggle of humanity, without making any effort to 
unvail himself and to assist man to a better knowl- 
edge of himself, and a more definite knowledge of 
his God ? Does he sit idly waiting and perfectly con- 
tented to let man pursue those intricate paths of life 
unaided, and as it seems fit to himself, when he, 
while upon earth, by a simple word turned water 
into wine for man's refreshment? If a word was so 
potent in its effects on that occasion, as to change 
water into wine, ought he not now, when liberated 
from the body, (or translated as the orthodox say,) 
to have the same, or even much greater power to 
assist the human family in their manifold needs? 
Ought we not to expect him to do it after what he 
did for a few individuals at the wedding at Cana? 
Is he too deeply vailed, or so obscurely hidden, that 
even in metaphysics we have not a right to speculate 
in regard to his acts? As wine is an extract of that 
prolific fruit so highly prized, (and as Byron said the 
only thing which grows better by age,) why not take it 
as a symbol and put it to some good use? The Bible 
is full of those figures, and I feel that the spirit in 
man was stronger than the wine he drank, and gave 
him desires for something higher and better than his 
condition. As wine is stronger and better than water, 
so should man be better and stronger spiritually than 
physically. Taking Christ in his spiritual condition 
and in his relations to man, ought he not to-day, 
nineteen hundred years after his miraculous change, 



286 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

to be able to transcend all those wonderful miracles, 
(if they were miracles,) done in the body, and to 
assist man now much more than he did then? Can he 
not now give to man wine, not an extract from the 
grape, but the wine of the spirit, which shall stimu- 
late him to high, noble and holy actions ? Tracing 
our way along the descent from the ancient city, we 
see the children of men along the line struggling for 
light, all alike, craving some special knowledge on 
this important subject. 

It makes man glad and expands his nature in the 
direction of good, when he possesses the sunlight of 
refinement and hope. "Ever at the right hand of 
God." It is important that we should inquire what 
that means — the right hand of God. Man should 
beware and not localize an idea. When we localize 
God on a throne we make him finite, we strip him of 
omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence. We 
then leave him like the idols of the east, stark, stiff 
and immovable, or like the gods of mythology. We 
should not think of the right hand of God as a place, 
but a principle of divine wisdom flowing constantly 
to man. God the father of the universe, Creator of 
all things, arbitrator of all natural laws, and when we 
take that figure metaphorically, we see its beautiful 
significance. We see his transcendent laws coming 
down through all time, ministering to man in every 
department of his nature, mentally, morally and phy- 
sically a triune, as was Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
before it was abused by man, and made personal. 
Man is a stranger when he isolates himself from the 
divine principle. 

Then is he like the prodigal son, wandering off by 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 287 

himself, seeking no intercourse with divinity, striving 
not for purity and philanthropy. When we dethrone 
this personal majesty, when we tear away the idea of 
locality, and when instead, we give to man one broad 
universal principle, we then have a unity of man in 
God, which no power of Church or State can separate. 
We need no dictum to say particular prayers to a 
divinity. 

When we say a divinity, we then have a plurality, 
but when we say the divinity, we strike home to the 
divinity of God in man. God is a living divinity in all 
things. 



288 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



CHRIST. 

May 1, 1874.— S. 

My son, I shall follow on after the last ideas I 
gave you about the Son of Man. Perhaps not to as 
great an extent as I intended, because of the condition 
of the medium. I will state why I chose this subject. 
It was from the fact of its having been the authority 
of the Christian Church for nineteen hundred years. 
Jesus of Nazareth has been held up to mankind as an 
example and being to worship. Admitting him to 
have the power and authority of God over man, is 
mankind to be redeemed from eternal death through 
his immaculate conception ? Has any bishop or min- 
ister explained or given any satisfactory definition to 
civilized man what eternal death is ? If there could 
be such a thing as eternal death, I should say anni- 
hilation, as they seem to me synonymous terms. It 
was certainly a very great mistake in God when he 
first made man, or else God was not omniscient and 
omnipotent. If he had been, he could not have made 
man for eternal life, and then by some mistake, or by 
some superior power to his own, or by some principle 
which man has brought in that he should be absolutely 
destroyed. I say absolutely, because we have first a 
description of the creation, the crowning act of which 
was man, and then centuries afterward thnt same man 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 289 

needs a mediator. No where in the record are we told 
of the necessity for a mediator during the four thou- 
sand years preceding the coming of Christ. But 
after that time had passed away it w T as then dis- 
covered that God was not all powerful to take care of 
his own children, or he could not have been under the 
necessity of a mediator. Did God discover nineteen 
hundred years ago that man had not come up to his 
full expectations of him, and that he was at that time 
under the necessity of employing a substitute which 
should directly or indirectly open a way for eternal 
life to man ? 

Does not all power come from the same source? 

Does God give eternal life and then need a media- 
tor to save man from eternal death ? Here is a con- 
flict, and I can not bring any philosophy to explain it. 
We learn that this mediator w T as but a short-lived man 
and served but a very few years in the ministry before 
he was crucified according to a death penalty then 
existing. An important point with Christians is the 
crucifixion and resurrection. 

Light to the world is what we want. As we go 
back to Adam and come down through every nation 
which has existed since that time, we find that from 
the most barbarous to the most civilized, they are very 
much of the same nature. The same animal nature 
and physical conformation, of like passions and pro- 
pensities, though some may be more advanced than 
others in intellect and the acquirements of knowledge, 
but all alike are fond of pomp, and show, and self- 
aggrandizement. If we start from the crucifixion, 
and come down, we see the same passions and propen- 
sities governing humanity as controlled them previous 
13 



290 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

to that time. We know that there are many along the 
march of time who were simple, honest Christians, 
who tried to tear away this passion for grandeur, and 
live more simple. It was not the crucifixion which 
illuminated man and made him honest, for we see 
honesty and integrity before that event, for there have 
been both good and bad men from Adam down to the 
present time. In history we read of good old men and 
the best of children, and learn of death as the natural 
sequence to animal life. From the crucifixion to this 
day, death has been a natural law, and that law was 
in harmony before that event as well as since. 

All along the earliest march of man we see noble 
specimens of humanity as well as since ; men who 
were self-sacrificing, honest philanthropists, whose 
numbers were few, while tyrants have been in the 
majority. Now the doctrine of the church is to take 
faith and live by it, instead of cultivating a principle 
of right. The corner-stone of the church is Jesus 
Christ, a plain, simple, unostentatious, philanthropic 
mechanic. His dress was of simple material, and 
modest form. His manners were unassuming, honest 
and quiet, and he was the embodiment of freedom. 
In that sense we should all be free from that arbitrary 
opinion, which governs, controls and influences the 
masses of mankind and womankind to-day. Christ 
would partake with fishermen, and at that time they 
were considered an inferior class of beings. 

A man who could associate with vagrant fishermen, 
must have cared very little for the opinion of the 
great, or for church opinion, which we take for granted 
they then had. They had rich and influential men, 
and also rabble, as we have them to-day. According 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 291 

to the history, this man (and I say it with due regard 
for him, because I appreciate him more than the church 
now does) was not lowered by his associates, his mind 
could not be biased or debased by his associations. The 
church says, he died, after having lived the life of 
rectitude he taught. He lived a simple, honest life, 
according to the precept "do unto others as ye would 
that they should do unto you." 

This* is one of the noblest sentiments ever uttered 
by man, and much more noble when practiced. He 
said, "it was easier for a camel to go through the eye 
of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom 
of heaven." Xow, that text covers the whole ground, 
and directly condemns wealth. If he who is the cor- 
ner-stone of the church condemns wealth, then it must 
be wrong to hoard up and be rich, and if that text be 
true, it entirely excludes rich men from heaven. 

Ministers tell you it means a different thing. I take 
it for granted that it means a camel and the eye of a 
needle, and not a hole in the wall of the city. In 
those days they had needles of metal, with an oblong 
eye, with which the garments of the priests were em- 
broidered, and they were kept in a sacred place, to fix 
those elegant robes. Wealth is not a curse, that is a suf- 
ficient amount to supply man's wants, and not become a 
superfluity. Christ must have felt that the world's goods, 
and a desire for gain narrowed and dwarfed the mind, 
and made it dictatorial and overbearing. He must have 
also felt that man could not be immensely rich without 
being dishonest in some way. From him, the corner- 
stone, has sprung up so many churches all over the 
world, and yet the members of that church are en- 
gaged every day in violating this essential element of 



292 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

their own religion. None of them do to their brother 
man as they would be done by. Generally speaking, 
those who are very rich must have driven a good bar- 
gain to have gained such a superfluity above their 
brother man. 

I will just allude to the rich man's punishment in 
such close proximity to heaven which is so often quoted 
from holy writ, and, I say it with all due deference to 
the historians, that I do not find it infallible. This is 
a strong point, and condemns the leading acts and 
features of the nineteenth century. 

We see some of the followers of the Nazarene, who 
was crucified to save man from eternal death, always 
condemning the very thing in which their whole life 
is absorbed. I ask, is not this mockery, blasphemy ? 
and are not the teachers deluded, and trying to delude 
the better class of minds ? Those teachers and believers 
are daily violating the precepts of Christ about wealth, 
and are continually taking undue advantage of their 
brother man, to amass wealth, instead of doing as they 
would be done by. The Jews are not more prosperous 
in their usages and customs to accumulate riches, nor 
are they different from the Christians of to-day. We 
now have a remnant of the Jews who claim to have 
the same religion as the Prophets of old, and, I be- 
lieve, there is nothing in their doctrine that positively 
forbids them from driving a strong bargain, but when 
Christians do that they violate the corner-stone of their 
faith. If God be infinite, was he under the necessity 
of bringing about a violation of his fixed and holy 
laws of birth to get a substitute sufficiently pure and 
immaculate to save the people of that day and gene- 
ration ? 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 293 

Is this generation not in need of a substitute? 

Be it said to man's shame, this child was born of 
woman, and not of man. She was not too pure to bring 
forth an immaculate child, and man had no part in 
his creation, yet man was to be a subject of the law 
promulgated by this " Prince of Peace." In the past 
few years much has been said and written about 
Civilization and Christianity. On the other hand we 
see wars and a constant strife at work all the time 
throughout the masses of mankind. What is this 
disturbing element? 

It is said, Christ is at the right hand of God and 
he holds men in subjection if they have faith in him. 
Now we see there is as great a lack of compliance 
with his precepts, in those who believe in his atone- 
ment, as in those who do not. Could that law-giver, 
who was so exemplary in life, sit quietly now and not 
interfere? Could he say "you have Moses and the 
Prophets, and if ye believe not them, ye would not, 
if one arose from the dead," as the angel Gabriel said 
when he spoke to the rich man in torment? We 
would ask the church, have you fully repented? Do 
the the Christians of the nineteenth century live in 
obedience to the divine law promulgated by Jesus of 
Nazareth ? 

Have they beaten their swords into plowshares, and 
with them gone forth to till the earth, and be content 
in earth's life in its simplest and purest aspect? Are 
their lives shorn of external appearances of grandeur, 
and therefore of sin? Were Christ to come down 
to-day and enter their temples dedicated to him, he 
might well rebuke them as he did once before on 
entering a temple, and call them all a generation of 



294 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

vipers. The viper principle then was not destroyed 
by the immaculate birth. 

Man has not yet ceased to shed the blood of his 
brother man, although he has had implicit faith in 
the bread and wine of which he has partaken. 

The wind may hiss and blow, and destroy trees and 
houses in its path, so with slander, it goes forth and 
destroys the reputation of those whom it assails. 
With lumber and a few workmen the house can soon 
be rebuilt, but a reputation scarred and blackened by 
the poisonous tongue of slander, can not be so easily 
restored. If all the crimes which have cursed the 
earth for nineteen hundred years still go forth in the 
same wild revel throughout the world, what is the 
potency and where is the benefit of the atonement? 
Church members and Christian society have either 
failed in their duty, or God himself failed in the 
atonement he offered to redeem man. Man has either 
failed to apply the remedy to arrest crime, or else the 
remedy itself was insufficient. So any man of com- 
mon sense must see there was a lack of the one or the 
other. Those called bishops, priests and divines, 
watching over different flocks, either willfully, or 
through mistake, violate the ordinances of the church 
quite often. Look at them as they ascend to the pul- 
pit on Sunday morning, elegantly attired, to preach to 
a fashionable congregation, at a large salary. Jesus 
said to his disciples, take neither scrip nor a second 
coat — oh, what a rebuke to these fashionable 
divines. 

Do they understand the wants, or are they competent 
from their standpoint of grandeur, to reach down their 
hand to the fishermen and rabble and raise them to a 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 295 

higher hope of God, and a yet higher hope of human- 
ity, than what they already possess? 

Are these divines themselves immaculate ? Do they 
scorn to do a mean act, or say an unkind word about 
their fellow man ? As I look back into the past, I see 
where a poor Virgin, after washing her master's feet, 
wiped them with the hair of her head. Pure humility! 
and what would the people of that age think of the 
present? Again, I ask, has the church improved the 
masses? Now religion either means something or 
nothing. If it has power to elevate man, it must raise 
him above cloth and gloves, it must see in man, 
woman and child, however clothed, a child of God. 
If churches are ever to benefit mankind, they must 
throw open the doors for all to come in and receive 
instruction, learn the truth, and how man should best 
live to obtain knowledge, and not to hear what men 
think about hell. Men of good intellect make good 
citizens. I do not mean a collegiate course, which is 
often like the dew upon the grass, so soon dried away 
by the sun. Let us tear away the stumbling block in 
the church, and let the people enjoy a pure religion. 
Let us lay aside the wine and bread, now used as a 
mockery, until man ceases to rob the poor of his bread 
and stay of life. It must be more substantial than 
that. Let us lay aside the wine taken in com- 
memoration of the blood of Christ, until man no 
longer feels the desire to shed his brother's blood. 

Until then, only can Christianity and the fellowship 
of the church do any good. In the present condition 
of mankind we need a living, acting principle of right, 
and not a mouldy corner-stone. 

It seems as if Christ had ascended so high, that 



296 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

humanity can not even get a glimpse of him. Is his 
heaven too far away that he can not sympathize with 
the outcast, nor enjoy the luxury of the rich? Divines 
now separate themselves from the people. They clothe 
themselves in purple and then seclude themselves from 
the masses who are standing and awaiting entrance 
to their presence. Man now wants something more 
tangible and substantial than what the dead past 
reveals to him. They have wandered out of the 
beaten paths of the early -day saints of Jerusalem. 
At that era they had walled cities, with towers and 
watchmen in them ready to guard them from enemies. 
The Bible and profane history records walled cities. 
Man's development of intellect and refinement goes 
hand in hand with his religion. 

What would be said of this city to-day if en- 
closed by high walls and battlements to keep out 
strangers y 

In early times when the forests around were filled 
with the wild man, it might have been appropriate, 
but not so now. We now see the world covered with 
cities inhabited by people who have outgrown walled 
cities. The wild man has been driven far away, and 
man feels secure in traveling throughout this broad 
country. Man no longer feels the necessity of a 
State religion, and government has thrown off church 
rule. Mankind has gradually ascended in the scale 
of manhood. Time has rolled on, and humanity has 
passed' through many tumults and discords before it 
arrived at its present state of civilization. Looking 
at that grand old city and its ruins, with its history 
of important events, and the influence its people have 
had upon mankind from that time to the present, 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 297 

we will pause and ask, has that influence been for 
good or evil? If I say for good, then I am asked to 
look around and see guns, swords, cannon and armies; 
to look at the ships of war sailing so majestically 
over the ocean, and watching, not for the devil, but 
for brother man, to destroy him, because he was born 
of another nation. If I say for evil, then am I told 
how we have grown out of walled cities, have learned 
so many appliances of steam and electricity, which 
benefit man. Therefore I will compromise between 
good and evil, and say man is not all good, nor all 
evil. Though Christ had never been born, America 
to-day would have been without walled cities. We 
should also have had crimes of the blackest dyes. 

Society has always had its needs, and I wish to 
tell you a few of them. Let me illustrate : 

If a patient, with some chronic disease, goes to a 
physician in whom he has full faith in his ability to 
cure him, gets from him a remedy, then puts it aside 
and does not use it, his faith alone can not cure him. 
So we see a great many who have full faith in the 
Christian religion, but they never practice any of its 
precepts, so their faith does not benefit them. Man 
must carry out his faith in his practice, or his faith 
is dead, and it will never benefit him physically, 
mentally, nor morally. 



13* 



298 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



MEDIATOR 

May 15, 1874.— S. 

My son, we will commence where we left off in re- 
gard to the Mediator, the divine administrator of man, 
and inquire what benefit the world is to receive from 
this Mediator. In order for man to move forward, he 
must have some idea of the road he expects to travel, 
but especially so, if that road be intricate and winding, 
then he must have something to guide him. On this 
planet, if the night is dark and uncertain, man wants 
something to direct him. The whole human family 
are traveling a journey, which none of them have ever 
been before, so they grow more anxious and more in- 
quisitive in regard to their success or failure in finishing 
that journey. It has often been said, that " man born 
of woman is of but few days and full of trouble." He 
who wrote that passage was sincere, and it tells in 
mournful tones that he must have seen that all born 
of woman was compelled to go through the process 
of death. We have in the record a history of only two, 
Enoch and Moses, who did not pass through the process 
of death. Now Moses did not leave a single witness 
to prove he too did not pass through this process, for 
he went on a journey and never returned. There was 
no eye witness to tell what did become of him. We 
have only to read carefully and unbiased the history 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 299 

of those who sojourned with him, to learn that such 
a smitten people are not to be relied upon. Moses 
controlled that people, and yet they had no more 
confidence in him individually than in any other man. 
He controlled them by his superior wisdom, his great 
knowledge of human nature, and by his great will- 
power. I say then, we have no testimony from any 
writer, nor has it been proven as true, that he did not 
go through the same process of death. With all his 
enemies around him, how easy it would have been for 
one of them to have slayed him, and then concealed 
his body. The testimony about Enoch is that he as- 
cended in a flaming chariot upward toward the clouds. 
Now T , the idea we gain from this is vague and indefinite. 

It was not proven by witnesses as in court, nor did 
all the parties present give their evidence. 

Now, all the testimony we have that these two per- 
sons did not go through the process of death, would 
not be taken as true to-day in any court of this or 
any other civilized nation. This teaches us that death 
is a natural law, and as universal in its results as the 
law of birth. 

Change is the eternal law of all things. There is 
nothing, therefore, unusual in the crucifixion and 
death of Christ. He obeyed the same physical laws 
as the two criminals beside him, for they all three 
had no other mode of exit. The Apostle declared 
that flesh and blood could not enter the kingdom of 
heaven. This shows us that he realized the laws of 
death as the laws of divinity, essential to the physical 
form, and that he had no idea of taking his physical 
body to heaven with him. 

Never did Christ make a remark that implies he 



300 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

thought the physical man was essential to the spirit 
world. He says, "I and my Father are one," showing 
that he recognized the divinity within himself, the 
realization of which elevated him above his physical 
form. By this recognition we can explain how he 
said a fish would be caught to pay taxes, and that 
too when not near to or within sight of the water. The 
divine light within him so illuminated his own vision, 
that he was capable of controlling the elements, not 
in a miraculous way, but by applying the proper ele- 
ments contained in the atmosphere. He could see the 
minds of his disciples, and knew the motives which 
actuated them, as well as that of all men with whom 
he was associated. He was educated superior to the 
doctors of the Jewish synagogue, not by an earthly 
teacher, but by a spiritual one, and he made use of 
the knowledge thus gained for the benefit of his brother 
man. He applied his healing powers and recognized 
them as having been given to him by his Father, and 
he instructed his disciples to do likewise. 'T is written 
that he raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had 
lain there three days. 

Without this being a literal fact, I will say, that the 
power he possessed was not miraculous, but a divine 
power, and that when man is not entirely dead he can 
be resuscitated. We will give him credit for doing 
everything recorded of him in the New Testament. 
Man could be quite as gifted to-day, as he was nine- 
teen hundred years ago, as the same laws now exist 
and hold good in this city, and at the present time, 
as in Jerusalem at the time of Christ. If he could 
and did raise Lazarus, if he healed the sick, cured 
the lame, and caused the blind to see, they were 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 301 

good noble act?, and should impress us all with a feel- 
ing that Christ was a noble specimen of humanity. 
He recognized himself as being the Son of God, and 
said he would ascend to his Father, and come again 
unto them. He said they could not go to him, but he 
could come to them. He declared to his disciples that 
he would come again, and before that generation 
should pass away. Now, he either did come again 
to them, or else he promised a falsehood. He could 
realize those wonderful and unseen elements which 
allay fever. He could take away the scum from the 
eye and revivify the optic nerve in man, so that he 
could see. He could touch the paralyzed hand, and 
man could then use it as before. 

Heading about his noble deeds should make as bet- 
ter, and fill our minds with higher aims, and give us 
a loftier faith in man. 

His followers saw him materially as he ascended. 
Poor finite man could not then comprehend any more 
than he wrote, and that was sincere, as it was ^written 
in truth. How many explorers have gone forth to 
discover new seas. From the time of his ascension, 
and from that standpoint we will follow this Son with 
whom it is said that God was well pleased, to his 
spiritual abiding place at the right hand of the Father, 
always doing as he once said, " the will of my Father 
in heaven." 

What is that will? We must instruct man in re- 
gard to his sonship, and in his brotherhood to the 
human race. With what wonder did the world look 
after Sir John Franklin, when he set sail for the North 
around the world. So I will now set sail from the 
time Christ's apostles saw him ascend out of their 



302 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

sight. Now in order to know the Son better, we must 
first know the Father. I shall not repeat the church 
catechism, nor try to define God, but launch out in 
the broad bosom of eternity, that immense sea which 
rolls before us all, and as we view all those mighty 
domains, we know they have an owner. If a man 
traveling in a strange country sees a log hut, he feels 
that man is near. 

We see the mighty spheres rolling on in space, and 
on our planet see the seasons coming, each in their 
own appointed time. We see nature in all her glory 
constantly changing her face to man, from the hoary 
frost of Winter to the bright and smiling Spring, then 
to Summer and Autumn, with its seeds and fruits 
garnered for man's benefit and use. Then do we feel 
more than words can express of the grandeur and 
goodness of the owner and author of all things. Then 
do we know we are but poor creatures, even in the 
spirit world; too poor in our language or ideas to 
convey even to a limited extent all we feel, when we 
behold all those mighty works of his. We recog- 
nize this Being as the divine author of power, om- 
niscient in all things, and however vast our experi- 
ence and knowledge, we have to come back to our 
father's feet, and like little children, say "oh, Father, 
thy powers we can not comprehend, they are too grand 
and sublime for finite mortals to realize." So this 
child of Nazareth was the well beloved Son, who 
recognized the children of earth as his kindred, as 
well as his own high and holy privileges. 

He recognized God when he stood beside the mercy 
seat, he felt his grandeur when he walked the streets 
where men gathered around him. He saw a power 






ANGELS MESSAGES. 303 

outside of the cherubim which overshadowed all things, 
blending in the air, which man breathed, and saw 
that he had only to open his soul and recceive that 
portion which is always ready for man. This same 
power ceased not, because he went away from Jeru- 
salem, for another son was left to adapt that power 
for the benefit of mankind. As he received, so he 
benefitted man, and those same attributes exist to-day, 
unchanged as in the past. Had the church the same 
simple faith and unselfish love he had, they could 
now heal their paralyzed and cure their blind by the 
same divine law that he did. They could then 
realize the presence of that immaculate child to-day, 
living in perfect harmony with his Father. He has 
grown and overspread the earth, he is too great to be 
confined in Judea, he is at the right hand of eternal 
life. It overspreads this planet, and can no longer 
be measured by cubic feet, as the ark was of the 
ancient Jews. It is no longer kept between the 
cherubim, for the simple reason that man is not able 
to receive and appropriate his presence entirely to 
himself. From the inner sanctum it has spread, until 
it has covered the earth. The sun's first rays fall 
upon the lofty mountain's top, yet those rays do not 
thaw the ice there, but as the sun ascends, and his 
rays descend into the valleys and plains, he breaks 
up the frozen ice of winter by his balmy breath, and 
soon fertile fields are spread around. Those lofty 
hilltops are emblematical of the scientific men of 
this age, they are superior to the minds beneath them, 
but this spiritual truth, which has shone on their 
heads, has not descended into their hearts, but the 
masses have seized upon it. and its sweet breath is 



304 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

making them fertile for good. If we go back to that 
old Jewish city, we learn that they saw this great 
light, for they erected temples and placed in them 
many holy vessels, to be used for different purposes 
by their holy men and prophets. That holy fire has 
ceased to burn at the altar of the Jewish church. 
The ark contained therein, and the table of Moses 
are as dead to day to the Jews, as Jesus is to the 
church. Neither Jew nor Christian receive now the 
light from the same divine source as their fathers did, 
for they have cut off the stream, and locked up the source 
from which it came. 

This same spirit sun, or Son of light, exists not as 
a material substance, but as an active law, inherent 
in creation itself, self-sustaining, and not dependent 
upon any race of beings upon earth, and yet it is 
subservient to the highest interest of all those who 
appropriate it to themselves. This is the sun which 
laid the foundation-stone of Christianity, civilization, 
brotherly love and all the holiest impulses that can 
actuate one people toward another for good. St. John 
could find no other definition, and said, in the begin- 
ning was the word, and the word was with God, and 
the word was God, and I know of no better language 
to convey that grand idea to mankind. I hope to 
find a better word before I am done with this subject, 
one which will bring the meaning nearer to man. 
Metaphysics is confounded in the minds of men by 
a superfluous number of words which surround it. I 
want to bring that presence to the whole human family 
of earth, so they can realize Christ as their brother, 
and that it is not essential they should eat him in 
bread, or drink him in wine, for they have in their 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 305 

houses a living presence, striving to unlock the stony- 
doors of their hearts, and melt their icy selfishness 
into genial spring. This presence is a substance as 
much as the aroma of flowers in the atmosphere, or 
the sweet tones of music which floats upon the 
zephyr. 

This enthroned Son, this divine Son, with whom 
it was said God was well pleased, is ever at the right 
hand of this divine law, manifesting himself to every 
man whose eyes are spiritually opened, and can receive 
his assistance, and thus become developed into a 
broader and better specimen of humanity. Oh, may 
this same Son of Truth roll back the dark cloud 
which hangs between man and his divine destiny. 
Oh, let him see it in all its glory, as the Apostles saw 
Jesus as he ascended above the flesh and blood of 
earth. 

I felt impressed to give you this lesson to-day. 
We have got to educate the people to spirituality of 
soul. We must take away the desire for grand 
sepulchers and elegant equipages at burials, and look 
after that which is more important, the spirit of man 
born of the flesh. Let us learn where and what it is. 
We will try to unfold man's condition as much as 
possible. 



306 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



ADVICE TO MR. W. 

May 15, 1874.— S. 

May you be awakened to the many privileges 
around you, and may you be controlled by the internal 
existence, instead of the external. With such great 
powers as yours, it is a great loss to your family and 
to yourself, not to cultivate them to their utmost 
capacity. Let not winter freeze out the bright spring 
time of youth, nor frost destroy your usefulness, par- 
ticularly as you are now on the verge of manhood. 
Let truth be your staff, and virtue your aim, and 
success will crown your efforts. There is no half-way 
place between the two extremes, you are either bound 
to the top of fame, or to its lowest depths. You are 
too susceptible of the surroundings to stop short of 
the point of success, or else sink to the lowest ebb of 
manhood. Then gird yourself for the battle, sir, and 
never look to the past, and that spirit of intelligence 
which has commnned with, and guided your mother, 
will hold in trust the highest development of your 
manhood. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 307 



METAPHYSICS. 

May 29, 1874.— & 

My son, I am glad to meet you. When we start 
in metaphysics, we are like a man exploring unknown 
seas, therefore we must feel our way along very care- 
fully. 

We feel that this ocean is boundless, but that 
somewhere in its mighty unfoldings, we shall be able 
to navigate it as successfully as it has been done by 
science in the past. We will leave the cross, the 
history and life of Christ behind us, that is his 
material life, and try to sail carefully along this un- 
known sea, which is constantly attracting the thoughts 
and spiritual desires of man. Man expects to change 
his material being at some time for some other 
condition, and so he is always desirous to gain some 
knowledge of the coast he is nearing, of the journey 
he is sure to take, of the place he is to inhabit, and 
of the best way he can reach it. He may call the 
end of his journey the throne of God, or man's 
abiding place after death, without giving it a locality, 
for in metaphysics we must lose sight of locality. 
We must carry with us our own individuality, and 
approach as near as possible the highest ideal, the 
highest conception man can possibly have of God and 
his Son. 



308 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

God, that unfolding power which envelopes all crea- 
tion of every form in the material and in the meta- 
physical, in the present and in the prospective, which 
field we will now try to portray to man, and give 
him evidence of its reality. The right hand of God 
was not understood as a localized place, in the highest 
sense of that word. 

This universal unfolding of wisdom and power, 
enclosing all creation, could not have a localized 
place. 

Man in his finite condition recognizes a king and his 
throne, and the place of honor at his right hand. At 
that time the king was the highest ideal that man had 
of power and honor, and so they tried to accommodate 
the idea to the future, and it was the best comparison 
they could make. The king high upon his throne is- 
sues the edicts of his will to his second in power, who 
is to hand it down and carry into effect any law which 
he may proclaim. In earth's language man has a lo- 
calized throne as the abode of a king, and the place at 
his right hand is the highest place beneath him, so this 
simile was used as the highest known, of God on his 
throne, and Christ at his right hand. The throne of 
God is the high, the omniscient, the omnipresent of all 
creative power, which goes out through all nature, 
from the grandest planet that rolls in space, to the 
tiniest plant that grows by the roadside. That is the 
throne of God, and it is inaccessible to man. His 
throne is as much in a falling drop of water as in the 
wave of the ocean. 

Human nature can unfold in some measure the dis- 
tance of the stars, and calculate their magnitude, and 
in some degree reckon their movements. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 309 

Such knowledge is approaching the right hand of 
God, as Christ approached it by developing in man a 
higher and nobler impulse, than an eye for an eye, and 
a tooth for a tooth. He rose above the physical con- 
dition of man, and in order to teach them that he 
lived after death, was obliged to enter metaphysics. 
His sayings did not prove it, he only gave his word for 
it. I w 7 ant to ask, what he has been doing these nine- 
teen hundred years? He advanced so rapidly in his 
thirty years of pilgrimage as to be above the church 
and dogmas of his day, and I might also add, above 
the common citizen. He was then ascending to the 
very wisdom which brings us all out of darkness, ig- 
norance and superstition, into that plain w r here the 
sunlight of truth sheds its beams in the hearts of all 
the people. He conceived higher laws to govern man, 
more lenient laws, and instructed man in a more ele- 
vated form of religious services. He taught him to 
lay aside the liberal shedding of the blood of the bul- 
lock and the first of the flock, and to accept instead a 
simple supper of bread and wine, which was called the 
Lord's Supper. In our day and generation, we can 
not comprehend nor appreciate the wonderful stride 
from the gathering of a multitude, slaying their oxen 
and rams, and with their many burnt offerings, to such 
simple forms as he established. At that time the 
priests were living in luxury, supported by the church 
in magnificent style from the tithes of the poor. We 
can not see the difference of to-day, nor can we realize 
the condition of man at that period, although but two 
thousand years since, -which is but a short period, com- 
paratively speaking. According to their custom they 
came from all parts of the country to offer their sacri- 



310 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

fices, and partake of the refuse meat, as the priests 
always received the best portions. 

Now, from this practice we see them turn at once 
to bread and wine, that is all who did not believe that 
God could be worshipped by blood, or that it was es- 
sential to the purity of the mind. 

That was a custom of the church, and they held 
humanity to that condition as long as it was possible. 
Man was not benefitted by this sacrifice of blood, 
either as a citizen or a Christian, and we behold are- 
former coming forward, whose very simplicity of 
manner, figuratively speaking, rent in twain the vail 
of the temple. Christ showed to them how barbarous 
were those practices, and proclaimed to them a more 
simple religion, viz., that of doing unto others as they 
would be done by. 

He felt that it was still essential for man to have 
form, to aid and assist him in his worship. 

He could not transfer man from the Jewish faith, 
with its blood and sacrifices, without substituting 
something instead, and so he substituted water. 

He did not think water was essential to the salva- 
tion of the race, but substituted it because he had to 
lay aside the blood. How beautiful this idea. It 
came to him spiritually, and he offered it to man in 
place of slaying so many animals. Earthly man must 
have something to sustain him, and he used the 
sprinkling of blood to appease his God. The sprink- 
ling of water was emblematical of the overshadowing 
and refreshing influence the world was to receive 
spiritually, and which is to direct man to a higher 
and nobler unfolding. As water cleanses the body 
from filth, so this spiritual influence, although it doth 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 311 

fall drop by drop, will refresh and revivify man's no- 
bler nature. It will stimulate the higher impulses of 
his soul, increase his love for his brother man, give 
him charity for his failings, and a ready hand to help 
him in every need and distress. Those emblems have 
had their day. Man no longer accepts them in their 
true sense, he has lost sight of their true significance, 
and accepts their form as a mere command. 

He has lost sight of the spirit, and lives by what 
they call faith, that God gave this injunction to man. 

Now, as we ascend the scale of manhood, we feel 
the Son of God near us. We then feel the benign in- 
fluence of love and mercy near to and all around us. 

'T is true, that those who have the most faith in this 
spirit of love, receive the most benefits from those di- 
vine laws which ministered to Christ, and also minister 
to us to-day. As we ascend spiritually and physically 
nearer to the throne of God, we come nearer to his 
Son, whose genial rays are constantly reflected in the 
minds of earth, developing them for the benefit of the 
whole race. Those elevating minds are breathing a 
multitude of inventions to sustain man's physical na- 
ture, directing him to higher forms of government, 
and to more extensive charity and brotherly love. 
This is the same spirit which rested upon the child of 
Nazareth, and developed a true Son of God, and di- 
vested him of flesh and blood when he ascended, as 
said by his Apostles, to the right hand of God. He 
is yet busy with that reformation which he began — 
because progression in man is the immutable law of God. 
Death is another immutable law, which is stamped 
upon all humanity, and accepted by them because 
they can not change it. By it God speaks to us in this 



312 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

day and generation, as he spoke to Christ in his day. 
That same spirit of love is inseparable from God. It 
is the offspring of the Father of wisdom ; it is the di- 
vine outflow and omnipresence. This spirit of love is 
seated at the right hand of God, as we might speak 
figuratively of that Son in his spiritual nature, as he 
left all that was earthly of himself in the hills of Judea 
where he was buried. We now claim kinship to that 
pure spirit who walked the hills of Judea, and who 
could see something nobler in man, and something 
better for him than that grand temple, built and filled 
with so many holy vessels by one of the greatest of 
kings. It was as grand a truth as ever was spoken, 
that he came not to kill, but to make alive. 

He did not condemn man, born as he was in that 
condition, but being a child of God he had a right to 
ascend. Man no longer needs swaddling clothes when 
he has grown old, and must we in this generation wear 
the swaddling clothes put upon Christians in their in- 
fancy when they first came out of the Jewish church? 
If we do we live in blind submission to priests, instead 
of seeking more light, and cultivating the higher and 
nobler impulses of the soul. Let us feel to-day we are 
all children of God, journeying upon the same high- 
way of life, and let us seek all those means which will 
most benefit the largest class of humanity. Not by 
paying tithes to the church, not by worshipping in 
grand temples, with velvet pews and curtained sanctu- 
ary, seeking a selfish heaven. 

We are all ascending, and soon will be above the 
bright cloud which overhangs our life, not to a local- 
ized throne, but to that unfolding, and still unfolding 
future of God in man. Let us not stop short Gf those 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 313 

great precepts given to us long ago, but take them as 
an example and privilege offered to us all. Let us 
not bind ourselves to the past, but live in the present, 
discharging our duties faithfully to-day, and let us be 
equally industrious to discharge them to-morrow. 
There is no stand-still, no stopping place ; we must go 
forward, although we die. One writer who could have 
no higher idea of life, said, " eat, drink and be merry, 
for to-morrow ye die." Yes, to this physical life, but 
not to its every responsibility, and not to our own in- 
dividuality. 

When we come into this metaphysical world, we 
bring our responsibilities with us, and in my next I 
hope to show, as far as I can, what they are. 

The right hand of God is the evolvement of law, 
and it was evolved by Christ in developing man into 
a higher humanity. 



14 



314 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



DEATH. 

July 24, 1874.— G. 

The tidal truth of spirit-wave rolls on. Fear not 
that others shall hear, for no word will be uttered 
from these portals by any one around us which shall 
make you quail from earth's gaze to listen at. True, 
liberty of thought and ideas are crushed, and clouds 
of dark surroundings are gathered over the human 
mind. 

I have come to sing a paean of liberty, liberty to 
humanity, not of a dogma, and not to the enthrall- 
ment or slavery of one single human being. Yes, 
liberty ! progressive in its broadest sense. Mankind 
must not be wedded to a single opinion or faith. The 
march of humanity is onward and upward to higher 
and nobler unfoldings of good, which are continually 
surrounding them. The corner-stone of modern Spir- 
itualism was laid a quarter of a century ago, and yet 
it is in its infancy. We see it cropping out among the 
scientific men of our own country, and a few of them 
are embracing it, and striving to develop it. ? T is a 
knowledge which will take away the sting of death, 
and the gloom of the grave. It will resurrect humanity 
from the dead carnal past. Oh, how many are yet 
dragged at the car-wheels of the past, instead of look- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 315 

ing up to something higher and better. Have they 
received enough wisdom to satiate their thirst for 
more ? Does man still ask with prayerful heart what 
are his wants to be in the future, why was he born, 
and why does he die ? It is not any particular dogma 
which interests us, or that should interest any man in 
this nineteenth century. How many with sad hearts 
have heard the toll of the funeral bell, and how many 
have heard the fervent prayers of the widow and 
orphan, asking for aid and comfort in their bereave- 
ment, when grieving for the loved and lost one ? Why 
is this ? Should not every human being ask why man 
mourns over a divine law, ordained for the benefit of 
all mankind ? Why grieve for death ? and why do 
our tears fall when we stand where our loved ones are 
laid ? Is Hope gone ? Is it because we know not 
where they are gone, and what they are now ? We 
know that prophets and seers in all ages have tried to 
console man, and reconcile him to this divine law 
governing him. Then why is man so prone to rebel 
against that which is right and proper ? Death is as 
legitimate as birth. Then why do we mourn at death? 
Because the carnal mind has been warped and dwarfed 
by priests, and because man knows not what comes 
after death ensues. We see you are in earnest in this 
good work, and although a stranger, we have come to 
enlighten and instruct you. We have come to give 
you hope and a knowledge of this invisible birth, and 
to all those seekers after that which will give them 
the greatest benefit. I have chosen Death as my 
theme, because man mourns so much over the body, 
and looks to God, hoping he will do something differ- 
ent for him, and for his special welfare. Man should 



316 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

look at this law, and accept it as being a divine law, 
and then bring himself up to the standard of it, which 
he can do if he lives faithful to this law. 

Mankind are seeking the true laws which govern life 
and health. Those laws are in harmony with nature, 
and we live longer and better when we follow them, 
than when we go contrary to them by pandering to 
vitiated tastes and appetites. In passing through what 
is called death to life, how grand the change, even if 
we are weak and feeble. 

To those who have been saying many prayers to 
propitiate the anger of their God, the light penetrates 
the clouds by which they have been surrounded, and 
gives them hope. Oh, what a sad thought ! Eeligion 
has been sent forth as commerce ; priests have bartered 
to man his highest hope of salvation, and promised 
him escape from hell. This has dwarfed man, demor- 
alized him, and filled our prisons with unhappy inmates, 
instead of elevating man and giving him hope. 

Why do the so-called Christians, although so corrupt 
and hypocritical, fear to come in contact with the world- 
ly-minded? Have they no confidence in the strength 
of their religion to conduct them aright through any 
evil ? No, they have not, their religion is frail, 't is 
like the morning glory that creeps up the side of the 
husbandman's cottage, but who fears the god of day, 
and closes up as soon as his early rays appear, so does 
their religion fear the sunlight of truth, and it closes 
up and vanishes before it. 

Why does man invent telescopes and microscopes, 
if with his unaided eye he can see everything? 

Why does he erect observatories that he may view 
the light of other spheres, observe their course and 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 317 

learn their motion? When man does this, he then 
sees how this planet loses itself among the mighty 
unfoldings of the universe. Yet amidst all this array 
of worlds, one wise man has said, " not one sparrow 
was lost, and not a hair of man's head but what was 
numbered." This wise man philosophized upon God's 
creation, and tried to develop man into something 
better than he found him, and taught him to lay aside 
the slaughter of so many animals, and to accept a 
religion which would bring him nearer to his 
God. 

He did not have demons engraved upon the pillars 
of a temple to arouse man's fear. No ! he taught him 
love and hope. On this tiny earth we hear the stream 
as it rolls along its pebbly bed, and yet we can not tell 
what power sent it forward on its course. We see 
the beautiful green leaves as they fan to and fro, yet 
we can not measure the force which sent them 
forth. 

In all these things of earth, we can realize only in 
part that it is all God's work, without comprehending 
the immense and varied properties applied. As finite 
beings, we should seek to live as near the truth as 
possible. Not a single human being can pass from 
earth to our spirit home without death. 

There are many who pass through this great 
change, without feeling it, and yet the physical body 
seems to writhe with pain. Why should man mourn 
because he has to leave his physical body? Why 
can he not realize that the spirit comes back after 
this beautiful change? Could his eyes be opened to 
see this change, it would smother every doubt, and 
dispel every fear that death transported him far away 



318 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

from this earth. Scientific men with all their knowledge 
and inventions, have not been able with any of them 
to penetrate this system or sphere, peopled by those 
who once lived as you now live. 

Then why do they deny to them a legitimate exist- 
ence here? Why do they refuse the evidence of 
those who once lived, but are now in their home here 
in heaven? 'Tis true their form is so etherealized 
that man can not see it. T is like the gentle evening 
zephyr which fans thy cheek. 

This change is superior to man's wisdom. The 
chemist can tell you all the constituents of man, 
and yet when he has gathered all of those elements 
together, it is impossible for him to construct a man 
out of them. This teaches you that man in his most 
enlightened condition, by no means nor process can 
discover the spirit which lives in man. He can make 
a telescope and trace the comets in their course, he 
can calculate the distance of the planets and describe 
their unvarying course, yet he can not make any 
instrument by which he can penetrate the spirit 
sphere. This is the only mode and process of cammuni- 
caiion. As diamond cuts diamond, and steel cuts 
steel, so shall spirit discern spirit when disenthralled 
from the body. Man will become better when he 
ceases to dwarf his spiritual nature, when he throws 
off the dictum of darkness which now controls him, 
and he exercises his faculties of reason given to him 
by his God. 

Then, my friends, march boldly on, and let eternal 
progress be engraved upon your banner. Why came 
these spirits here ? because it is their legitimate home, 
the birthright God gave to them, and all the laws 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 319 

made by man and threats uttered by priests can not 
keep them away. Light is breaking the shackles 
which bind mankind to earth, and it is gaining a 
victory over superstition. Man no longer bows to 
an angry God, or needs a mediator to propitiate 
him. 



320 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



EIGHT AND CUSTOM. 

July 26, 1874— 8. 

My son, I am truly glad to see you. It seems 
that the whirlwind and passions of men destroy our 
social intercourse, but the world still progresses and 
man continues to seek for higher thought, a purer 
science and a more liberal religion. Common minds 
will pander for awhile to the teachings of the past, 
but truth, like a two edged sword, will sever the 
Gordian knot which binds humanity to church and 
creed. Oh, how much humanity feels oppressed to-day, 
with its frightful responsibilities, which seem too 
great for the present generation to manage with any- 
thing like success. Taking a bird's-eye view of your 
State and municipal affairs, my sympathies are 
aroused, and I feel the necessity for a great reforma- 
tion in our political affairs. Our country is .filled 
with a people as intellectual as those of any country, 
they have as great commercial facilities, as fine soil 
and as delightful climate as can be found. Then 
why should they be embarrassed with debt, harassed 
with so many petty questions regarding the prosperity 
of so many different States? We see an executive 
ready to call out the army with bayonet to force and 
compel the people, who claim freedom, to submit to 
the indignity a few politicians may wish to inflict. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 321 

I allude to this fact, to show the misfortune of men 
misunderstanding any truth. 

A selfish dogma, like a clique, can lead the whole 
human family to misery, wars, mobs and bankruptcy. 
Oh, what a miserable condition is that, with all of the 
boasts of the nineteenth century. I can recall the 
time when missionaries were sent out to convert the 
heathen nations to Christianity. From them the 
truth comes back to our own country, now more 
heathenish than any of them. Our people are ready 
to-day to smother out the liberal education of the 
masses, by calling up a question which is not at issue. 
I allude to the civil rights bill, and feel that I ought 
to say a few words regarding it. 

Every man should learn to discriminate right from 
wrong. I say l^arn, for I find that a majority of 
mankind lose sight of real right and follow custom 
instead. The only excuse they give, is that it is 
customary. Man must learn that what is customary 
is not always right. 

But when we seek the opposite side, we must not 
let our sympathy take us too far over. Right here, 
between the white man and the black man I want to 
draw a distinct line. I do not want to have one kind 
of freedom for the white and another for the black. 
Any man can buy land and put it to any use he sees 
proper, and should have the same right to establish 
free-schools. The tax raised to school white children 
should be distinct from that raised for the colored. 
The colored man now has the right to buy land, 
build houses and dispose of them as he pleases. He 
carries on trade and traffic, or follows any pursuit he 
pleases, and the school-fund should be so divided 
14* 



322 ANGEL8 MESSAGES. 

that he will receive his pro rata. This would be 
legitimate and there would be no necessity then for 
mixing the two races in the same school. They are 
two distinct races in color, habits and nature, as are 
the two nations from which they sprung. 

They show distinctly in every thing how inferior the 
black man is to the white. The colored man can now 
keep a hotel in any city ; he can build churches, keep 
a carriage and have a private school. The races should 
not be mixed. A question looking to such an end 
should never be agitated, for it is neither wisdom nor 
good policy. The colored man can never ascend in 
point of intellect to the white man, nor can the race 
ever equal the white race. No man should deplore it, 
because a negro is a negro any more than he should that 
a pine is not an oak, or that a leaf is not a flower. 
Each has its legitimate place in God's creation. The 
wisest and best laws should be made to govern both 
races. There should be distinct laws of associations, 
and only in the main should they be the same. Sooner 
than men now think there will be a separation of these 
two races, for they can never occupy the same position in 
society, or hold the same place of trust and office the 
white man does now. Legitimately speakiug, this is 
a white man's government and white man's country, 
and he will never submit to equality with the black. 

The agitation of any question that tends in that di- 
rection, will be detrimental to the welfare of this nation, 
and will lead to fearful results. 

If this government will pursue the course of har- 
mony for a few years, until we can get humane men of 
wisdom, and broad comprehension to control this gov- 
ernment, we may then hope for peace. They may be 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 323 

able to work out some division of territory to make a 
home for the colored man, where he can have free 
churches, free schools, and be as free as the people of 
France and Germany. Instead of our politicians now 
seeking for harmony, they are trying to spring the 
question of civil rights and general associations. 

This will bring bloodshed, and involve us in another 
war, before the effects of the last one has passed away, 
which would be unwise and sinful. 



324 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



MARRIAGE. 

Aug 7, 1874.— S. 

I must grasp your hand this evening, my son. 
There are moments which you and I can never 
forget. The great crisis in man's life is when he 
marries. It is a greater one than when death steps in 
and leaves a vacant chair, for when man's spiritual 
eyes are opened and he sees beyond the home he has left, 
he has a brighter hope with the loved ones who have 
already vanished from physical sight. 

It was certainly one of the greatest events that ever 
occurred when man and woman came forth to be help- 
meets to one another. As there is so much agitation 
now in society about matrimonial relations, I propose 
to give my views about them. First I will speak of 
that being who gives more pleasure, and also pain, 
than any other human being, a mother not excepted. 
It is natural for man to love woman, and there is no 
grander thing to love than a pure noble woman with 
a warm heart, keen perceptions and sympathies. The 
divine author of all created and gave woman all those 
tender faculties for the highest benefit to man. They 
are to soften his stronger passions, bring out the better 
and nobler impulses of his soul by her tender love and 
sympathetic feelings. Man is naturally stronger than 
woman, and he has in him more of the unruly passions. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 325 

He was born to rule, and the higher and nobler the 
man the more does he rule, not by brute force, but by 
the harmony he brings out of chaos. It is one of the 
most glorious acts of a man's life, when he takes a 
woman and acknowledges her before the world, to be 
queen of his soul. Every woman has feminency 
enough to desire a man of intellect, education, influ- 
ence and position, and she feels pride in a man to 
whom she can look up, and in whom she has confi- 
dence and trust. A man who has a noble indepen- 
dent spirit, will never debase, nor crush the one he 
calls wife. When man is correctly educated, he will 
take woman for the pure love he feels for her, and a 
desire for her companionship. He will feel she is a 
boon from God to soften his life, brighten his home 
and be a mother of tender and loving children. 

Man should seek in the marriage relations to get 
love instead of gold and silver. Few families realize 
the principle of love, nor do they feel that it is 
essential to cultivate it. 

Without love from wife and children in the home 
circle, man becomes morose, and even reticent. So a 
wife without her husband's love becomes proud, 
haughty and selfish, and without words of affection 
at home, coquettish. 

I know a great deal is now said about free-love. 
It will destroy individuality, dissolve family ties, 
debilitate, degrade and destroy the highest faculties 
of the soul. It is hard to find words which will 
express all the horror that would surely flow from it. 

There is but one definition of love. It is the pure 
emotion of the heart, and it attracts to itself a par- 
ticular one. It is as intangible as the odor of flowers, 



326 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

which we can experience and enjoy, but can not define ; 
sickness, misfortune nor death can destroy it. It is 
a part of our spiritual nature, it makes life beautiful 
and charming, when rightly directed. It gives an 
indescribable charm to married life, and it is the 
anchor of a young man. 'Tis the charm of his life, 
when nature and expectancy of soul burst forth in a 
torrent of feeling, and he fixes his mind upon a 
beautiful and lovely woman. 'T is the harmony of 
life, when two thus blend together. Though the 
aroma of the rose blends with the odor of other 
flowers to regale us, yet it has its own distinct aroma, 
yet much of the exquisite charm of fragrance would 
be lost to us, without a variety of odors. Oh ! cold 
and sterile would life be without the feeling of love 
in the heart. It would be like the water in a frozen 
stream, which neither fertilizes nor benefits nature in 
her unfoldings. Oh, let not man nor woman mistake 
lust for love. Let no man marry a woman for the 
gold she may possess, for she can never be his wife. 
When man does that, he deceives himself and loses 
the grand estate given him by birth. 'T is divine love 
which illuminates every condition of life, makes warm 
the coldest hearthstone, relishable the poorest meal, 
and comfortable the meanest hut. Only from true 
love in marriage can loving children be born. If this 
was always the case, we would no longer see the human 
family struggling against child-birth, and men living 
isolated and alone. Then the music of a child's 
voice would be sweeter than the finest-toned instru- 
ment. 

Woman should not dress for show, with gewgaw to 
attract a crowd, but matron like, with dignity 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 327 

becoming her husband and children. Fathers and 
mothers should beware of match-making, which is 
now bringing about so many things detrimental to 
the human family. There should be but one induce- 
ment for marriage, a pure, sincere love, nothing else. 



328 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



FIRE AND WATER. 

August 21, 1874.— 8. 

My son, God bless you. That communication 
(from a lady lost by the burning of a steamboat,) 
speaks for itself to some extent, does it not? We 
will turn in the light upon this city of rocks, and let 
the people here find out that there is a home above 
the steeples of their churches. The spirit ascends 
above its earthly tabernacle, and neither fire nor water 
can harm it There are two powerful elements, useful 
to man in every department of life, yet how destruc- 
tive, if not wisely controlled. Man being next to his 
creator in wisdom, is not lacking in knowledge of the 
way to subdue both fire and water, and make them 
subservient to the highest benefit of man. 'T is not 
for want of intellect, that we see nearly every day 
some terrible catastrophe, in which fire and water has 
destroyed life. It is not for the lack of wisdom in 
man to control these elements, but a lack in exer- 
cising that wisdom. Life is for a great purpose, and 
it was not given to man to be destroyed rashly, 
indiscriminately, and with indifference. It matters 
not whether it be one man or many, who have the 
care and responsibility of human life. There may 
not exist any statute law, by which we call those who 
have a care of life to account for these terrible 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 329 

accidents so common on steamboats and on railroads, 
but there is a higher law, the grand law of life, 
which is insurmountable and beyond cavil. 

Therefore, he who fails to discharge his whole duty, 
either from avarice or through neglect, can not escape 
its penalty. As I look around me, I see such great 
indifference in regard to life, in the way steamboats 
and vessels are loaded and managed. The honesty 
of men who have heretofore been trusted in these 
responsible positions, seems to have faded away, and 
these cares are now left to the control and manage- 
ment of incompetent men, and thus we see them 
hurling people by hundreds into spirit life. There is 
no necessity for these terrible accidents. If the boat 
is well built and rightly managed, it would take a 
hurricane to destroy it, and with proper care, she 
ought never to be burned. 

Combustible materials ought never to be put upon 
a boat at the same time with passengers. Life is too 
sacred for man to become so indifferent to its safety. 
The physical body is essential to spirit life, which we 
could not have without it. We ought then to take 
care of that body, until the laws of nature have been 
fully carried out in the great design of maturing the 
spirit to enter the next sphere. I know it is the 
popular idea that children are better prepared for 
that sphere in infancy, and that they are in a better 
condition to enter spirit life, but this is a mistake. 

When parents fully understand the importance of 
maturing the body to develop the spirit, they will 
cultivate a wiser and better mode of rearing children 
than they now have. They will then examine care- 
fully the diet and clothing, attend to ventilation, see 



330 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

well to the proper exercise, and to everything which 
has an influence on infantile life. The body is not a 
bubble thrown upon the water of life, without aim by 
the great designer of all, that it should die like a 
spark from a furnace. No, there is a spirit encased in 
that body to fulfill a divine law. 

It is not a spark merely, but a spark of spirit, and 
many elements have been gathered around it in the 
womb of its mother to form a body for the protection 
and development of that spirit, and when it ripens and 
becomes mature, it falls away from the body, like the 
ripened fruit from the parent tree. The climate of 
this country is good, conducive to health and life, and 
both men and women should live to old age, and 
receive happiness. If you do not learn what happiness 
is in the body, you can not enjoy it for a long time 
in spirit home. You can not enjoy vision, unless you 
have sight, you can not enjoy music unless you have 
hearing, and if you do not cultivate the soul in grace, 
and in the different varieties of harmony, you can not 
enjoy what the church calls heaven in its true sense. 
Heaven is not a monotonous place, without any attrac- 
tions. We see here the mind is as full of variety as 
in earth's life. You can not enjoy anything, unless 
you have the faculty of enjoyment, and then you must 
have presented to this faculty its needs. 

This is a law of nature which will sustain and de- 
velop all things when left free. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 331 



CREEDS, STUMBLING-BLOCKS. 

August 4, 1874.— S. 

Madam, I am glad to meet you. Am glad to have 
met your husband to-day, and now have the privilege 
to say, by his advice, that soon he will be able to 
communicate with you. He will soon have enough 
force to control the Medium. He has not lost interest 
in his home or country, nor the people of this age of 
progress, nor the denizens of the world who are seek- 
ing a higher development of truth. The field is large 
in regard to religion, government, astronomy, and all 
the sciences which pertains to man's benefit. So man 
should know himself, his own powers of knowledge, 
and his privileges. 

This will help and strengthen us in our effort to 
explain ourselves in whatever field of progress we may 
be able to use to benefit mankind. 

We can learn much if we set out with an honest 
purpose, and free our minds from bigotry and super- 
stition, and not confine it to creeds. 

Rest assured, madam, the creeds of the church have 
been a great stumbling-block to the advancement of 
truth, greater than anything else. 

Religion is innate in every human being, even the 
most barbarous savage has it to a limited degree. In 



332 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

this cultivated age we should not tie ourselves to a 
dogma. 

Man's mind is varied, and his capacity is exceed- 
ingly diversified, some being extensive, others limited. 
It is very essential that children, in the beginning, 
should be taught liberal ideas. Truth in regard to 
everything, while all false ideas and appearances 
should be laid aside from them. We go to church. 
It is beneficial when we hear good music, and a philo- 
sophical discourse, but not when we listen to the 
promulgation of a dogma. You, madam, are keenly 
alive to your duty, and would not deviate from it for 
any personal gratification, but I would say, beware 
of becoming a slave to sensation. Education has 
much to do with our ideas of right, while our asso- 
ciations sway our mind in different directions. It is 
one of the hardest things for man to give up that 
which he has so long felt to be truth. We hate to 
give up our idols, and so they are our companions for 
life. 

Search through Christendom, and as we trace the 
road, we see all along where idols have received some 
kind of worship. When we of the present age look 
back at the religious customs of Moses, we reject most 
of them. But they gave happiness to his people, they 
kept them together, prevented their being destroyed 
by their enemies, and did them great good. Chris- 
tianity has done good so far as it has kept man above 
the animal, but when you lay aside the idea of pro- 
gress, and bind man to a dogma as you would tie a 
horse to a post, then you take away from him his 
God-given rights for advancement. Look around, and 
see how many beautiful ideas are pointing to the pro- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 333 

gress of man. A man can not worship daily, preach 
religion, and teach his brother man the highest law, 
without being benefitted himself. To make his teach- 
ings beneficial to the human family, he must admit 
that he has not unravelled all the mysteries of God, 
and that he is able to expound only a part of them, 
according to his limited ideas. 



334 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



POPULAR SCANDAL. 

September 18, 1874.— 8. 

Good evening, my son. I had a little leisure, and 
came this evening to comply with the promise I made 
to you some weeks since. I mean in regard to right, 
law and justice. A man must have a high, sound 
knowledge of moral law to distinguish between justice 
and public opinion. Now, what is justice? It is a 
word expressing a principle, broad, high and deep. 
This principle should be enthroned in every house- 
hold. The child of five years should be taught to 
recognize justice as differing from public opinion. 
Now, a man to be truly religious, must have that 
principle innate within him, and use it in everything. 
Every emotion must be weighed in that balance, and 
also every desire of his heart, weighed too with un- 
scrupulous nicety that he may always be able to render 
justice to every individual with whom he may asso- 
ciate, or have business transactions. No man can be 
a Christian, no matter what public opinion may award 
to him, unless he is a just man. 

He may claim to be a bishop, priest, divine, or have 
any other name to designate him as a Christian 
teacher, but unless he has cultivated, and understands 
the principle of justice, and rigidly practices it, he is 
not a Christian in the true sense of the word. He is 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 335 

not capable of instructing humanity in the laws of 
justice, for he can not give an example of that which 
he himself does not possess. A man may be educated 
in science and theology, capable of giving learned dis- 
courses, and hold a vast multitude in control by his 
eloquence, but learning and elequence are not justice, 
are not Christianity. A man may be a fine scholar, 
with great magnetic power to control a multitude, and 
yet leave out of his teachings the true question which 
should govern him, justice to all. We now have public 
opinion in opposition to justice. Yes, the favor of 
public opinion is brought to weigh against justice over 
the heart. Christianity is popular in America, and in 
several of the countries in Europe, and public opinion 
is in favor of the present theology. I do not wish to 
discuss theology, but justice as opposed to public 
opinion. Justice stands with her eyes closed to public 
opinion, bigotry, superstition, and everything which is 
detrimental to the great masses of humanity. Justice 
knows not a man on a throne from a beggar in the 
dirty lanes and thoroughfares of life. She stands 
with her eyes closed to all partiality. She will not 
shield a divine nor a president from crime sooner than 
the poorest subject of the country. Then, why all 
these great, and I must add, disgusting scenes in 
church about its pastor ? 

If seduction and adultery are crimes for men in 
the lower walks of life, are they not greater crimes 
for a popular preacher? If friendship was violated, 
and the sacred tie of husband and wife severed, was 
it not a crime ? The testimony of the victim, taken 
according to the laws of the country, shows that she 
was betrayed. He was eloquent to plead, powerful 



336 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

in magnetism to control, and there can be no doubt 
but he took advantage of his position, as teacher and 
relation, as friend, to do a base act. This was not 
only injustice to his friend, and that friend's wife, 
but also to his own wife. 

The world is conscious of his great wrong, and so is 
his church, yet it refuses to punish him, but their 
failing to do that does not destroy the fact, although 
they declared him innocent. I am dealing in facts, 
for they are of the highest benefit to man, and Chris- 
tianity can not exist without them. There can be no 
doubt he committed the act, and we want to see its 
effect upon the church. Will the church, will com- 
munity be better, purer and happier, for dragging 
this scandal before the public and publishing all the 
statements made? Does the church or that court 
think by their decree, they can destroy his crime, or 
obliterate its knowledge? Does their decision cure 
the many heartaches, and cool the fevered brains of 
the injured ones? 

The preacher may be able to ascend the rostrum 
and preach with greater power than before, but the 
fact remains the same. If adultery is a crime, is it 
not greater for him, who knows it to be so, than for 
another who has not that knowledge? Upon the basis 
of civilization, adultery is a crime, and the whole 
civilized world recognize it as a disgraceful one. Man 
is educated to believe the laws of marriage are sacred, 
and that the wife must not receive expressions of love, 
except from her husband. 

When thus kept, it is high and holy. Oh, the many 
heartaches caused by adultery. The tie of marriage 
is felt to be sacred, according to the nature, fidelity, 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 337 

affection and purity of the individual. Oh, what 
deception of a friend and brother was that? How 
wicked and impudent to poison his brother, and leave 
him in disgrace upon the ground. 

Look at the many falsehoods uttered, and the many 
motives used to destroy the truth. No honest mind 
can contemplate that trial, without feeling that com- 
munity at large have been outraged by it. After it, 
they ask an intelligent people to believe this man 
innocent, when his own conduct, as well as the state- 
ments of others show his guilt. What good is to be 
gained from such a man, now ready to blast the hopes 
and reputation of another? What has the church 
gained by its acquittal ? Can that preacher exercise 
the same amount of influence for good, as he once did, 
either in the church or out of it? Is it better that 
the church should embrace him, replace him in the 
pulpit after acquitting him of such an infamous crime ? 
Can he now preach to them in better phrase, on more 
approved subjects, or more agreeable to their feelings 
than he did before? Now, what is that church to 
the whole country? Look into other churches and 
we see the same kind of men, who in the name of 
Christianity, take advantage of their position to lead 
astray, not only the married, but the young and 
innocent. Let the question come home to every true 
heart, why is this? Because man fails to render unto 
his brother man that which he desires for himself. 
The lesson to be learned from this scandal, is this, 
that preachers, as well as saloon keepers, are men, 
nothing more, nothing less. Men educated for the 
ministry, who preach to well filled houses for well 
filled purses, in their vanity lose sight of their own 
15 



338 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

responsibility. They all receive adulation and flattery 
from the community, according to their popularity. 
They are granted the greatest trust ever given to 
man. Beautiful young girls and wives come to be 
taught by them, they forget themselves and the laws 
of the country, and make those pupils their toys. 
Some women can not bear to be called strong minded, 
and others are won by the strong magnetism of the 
man. An old writer has said, "man, know thyself." 
As I stand upon the threshold of two lives, between 
spirit and earth, I can say, with deep respect to my 
fellow men, they do not know themselves. 

Every man thinks he can be perfectly virtuous, 
and does not believe that he could be led astray, yet 
he most always finds temptation too strong to be 
resisted. We can never know ourselves, and so 
always guard our path aright with the opposite sex. 
A minister has many temptations to resist. 

He is granted more privileges in the domestic circle, 
and it is therefore important that his friends should 
not impose upon him more than he can withstand. 
Until the education of both sexes is upon a higher 
base, with more liberal ideas, such scandals will con- 
tinue to occur. They gather force as they go along, 
and their baneful influence is felt by the youth of 
both sexes. 

To woman I would say, be strong, know your place, 
and keep it. You know not the power you exert 
over your stronger companion, either for good or evil. 
Then woman be strrng and flee from those silly deeds, 
which excite men and urges them on to ruin. You 
should be like a shield to man, to ward off the darts 
of evil from his warm manly bosom. Cultivate some- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 339 

thing besides vanity, which is so destructive to your 
health, happiness and welfare. 

Let us hunt up the evil and see from whence it 
comes, whether from man with his lordly claim, or 
from his temptation. Think you, that man so warm 
in his nature, could have sought to violate the friend- 
ship extended to him, without vanity being the 
serpent of woman's nature? The artless smiles and 
honeyed words, which she thinks not of, are claims 
laid at her feet. Oh, woman beware, and use the 
power you have aright. Transgress not the privilege 
granted to you. Stand erect like the pine on the 
mountain, which sways to and fro in the storm, but 
breaks not. It is the influence which all such scandal 
has upon the public mind, that we should guard against. 

It is quite essential that the eyes of mankind should 
be opened to truth, and while I approve of the public 
press, I also deprecate public scandal. It does not 
benefit the morals of community, it does not change 
the condition of the parties themselves. 

Then let the standard of liberty be unfurled, and 
while we claim freedom, let us not debar our neighbor 
from accepting his own birthright. Public opinion 
in this enlightened day claims the right to deal with 
such facts in scandal as they please, but I say nay. 

Let us not feed our youth of this generation with 
the elements of consumption, murder, seduction, 
deceit, robbery and every other crime. It is high 
time that both church and people should object to 
newspapers giving to the public every day such food 
for the young, which is more deleterious to them than 
cholera or yellow fever. Why is there so much cor- 
ruption in office in our municipal, State and national 



340 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

affairs, which is now spreading itself so rapidly 
throughout the church and community? Why is there 
now such a low ebb of morals? This people have been 
taught to look to Mount Calvary for the atonement of 
their sins. Now, what is society to-day, relying on 
that belief? Every conceivable crime is of daily 
occurrence, newspapers and pamphlets describing them 
are scattered broadcast over this country to poison the 
minds of the youth of both sexes. Many of our youth, 
instead of being taught at a school-house, are schooled 
at a circus, low play, or in the street. 

Every act of society which is known to the young, 
leaves its impress upon the mind, even upon children 
of a few years of age. True, we have Sunday-schools 
where children attend, and we will ask, what do they 
learn there? The churches are also well filled to listen 
to the particular faith taught there. Both have their 
influence, and I want to see what it is, and ask if it 
elevates humanity and betters them. If so, why are 
all these crimes so broadcast ? There are no heathen 
among us, we are all Christians, that is, believe in the 
atonement of Christ. ,We have free schools, a free 
press, and a free church, and yet the status of morality 
in this country is fearful to contemplate. A physician 
to cure his patient, must know the nature of his 
malady, so the philanthropist to improve mankind, 
must know what is the cause of so much crime. 

Let every church search their own minister, and 
their own congregation, and see what is their condition. 
Let them discover what it is so destructive to the 
morals of this people. Then, and only then, will they 
be able to apply the proper restorative. 

In conclusion, let me say to my fellow countrymen, 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 341 

that Christianity does not consist in fine churches with 
every elegance and comfort, where fine music is heard 
to attract the people. 

If Christianity was begotten of heaven, its followers 
should set a better example, live up to a higher stand- 
point of morals, have more charity, and a more hu- 
mane feeling to the whole race and to one another. 



342 ANGELS MESSAGES. 



POLITICAL ECONOMY. 

October 2, 1874.— S. 

My son, I could not be with you last week. I 
wanted to investigate European politics, and compare 
them with those of America. In the United States I 
find that the men who govern it, are not faithful to 
their trusts, and I fear, in truth I know, that unless 
we have honest men to govern us we will become in- 
volved in a war with Europe. A great many railroad 
and government bonds are now owned in Europe, the 
owners of which feel dissatisfied in regard to the way 
those roads are managed. I have been informed that 
three men have been sent from the United States to 
look after its bonds, now held by different governments 
in Europe. Thinking it best, I went to Spain first, 
and found that government like Cuba, involved in in- 
ternal troubles. Germany is not content, she is like 
a volcano, boiling and seething. She is gathering one 
of the finest armies in the world, and increasing it 
daily. Kussia is almost as much discontented. Eng- 
land is waiting, recruiting her army, drawing them to 
a focus, ready for any emergency that may become 
developed. 

I find the people very much discontented in one 
direction, while the rulers are in another. The last 
time I was in France, I found she was as much dis- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 343 

turbed as at any time during the last twenty years. 
The great effort now among them all is to arouse the 
United States government, and get it involved in in- 
ternal trouble, and then they will demand payment 
of those bonds they hold. This may be expected on 
the eve of the next Presidential election. 

Spain is struggling for a Republic, that is a part of 
her people, while the balance are holding on to mon- 
archy. Not a single European power can bear to see 
another republican government established* and all 
these monarchies are united in the desire to suppress 
this in America. They think man is too free in this 
country, and there is too much immigration of the 
working classes. The success of the working man 
here has created a desire among those left behind to 
claim the same privileges had here, in their own 
country. 

The ministry of Europe know to-day that the work- 
ing classes have gained more freedom in the last five 
years than in a hundred preceding that time, and yet 
they have not got as much as they want. 

Nearly every law the working man has asked for 
has been enacted, and yet they still ask for more. 

So it is now conceded that these demands must be 
stopped, and the only way they think it can be done, 
is to involve America, and destroy her republican 
form of government. They now find here a good 
element for them to work in. They find politicians 
who have a knowledge of and influence among the 
people, and w T hom they can use as tools to destroy the 
harmony of this government, and they are working 
through them to that end. It seems they have forgotten 
what was to be settled by arbitration, and have their 



344 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

secret enemies at work all the time, and who will 
start the disturbance sometime in 1876. Germany, 
with all her attainments in science, is as much dis- 
contented as if she had no intellect to support her. 

One great proof that no man should be retained in 
power too long, and have such great control, is set 
forth by many dictatorial rulers. A man when young 
and first entering upon public duty is energetic, honest 
and faithful. He then has no selfish purposes to 
actuate him, but after six or eight years of success, 
he becomes arrogant, overbearing and despotic. He 
then knows no higher law than his own selfishness or 
popularity. Popularity may be a good thing for those 
who have knowledge enough to govern it. While this 
American ship of State has been sailing along slowly 
with a little squall now and then, at the present time 
we see her struggling for existence, and a few noble 
minds are trying to save her from that corruption, 
which has dispelled the hopes of other nations which 
have claimed to be free governments. While Mexico 
claims to be a Republic, she is scarcely so. Spain 
claims the same thing, but we find there no safety for 
her citizens. Those there who are now clamoring for 
a free government are not capable of sustaining it. 
Her people are too much divided, they know but little 
of politics, and so fight for men instead of principles. 
I hope a loyal, intelligent, honest man will be selected 
for our next Presidential canvass ; a civilian, and not 
a military man. This is all-important for this people. 

Military leaders are least capable of controlling a 
civil government. The time has come when we must, 
and I hope, we shall have civilians to govern us, in- 
stead of generals and captains. Let us do away with 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 345 

these military titles, and let every town, county and 
State watch its own internal interests, and also the 
interests of our w T hole country. If we could have 
cheaper money for the people, and with a smaller per 
cent, on our bonds, foreigners w 7 ould be prevented 
from investing in them. The great question now is 
the money system, and it is this question which will 
turn and save, or destroy this nation. 

The people must have exchange, and the statesman 
who can not furnish it, is incompetent to rule a country 
so rich in minerals, and one where every element es- 
sential to life and prosperity is sown broadcast over 
this entire land. Not men, but measures we must 
clamor for, the well-informed statesman, not the poli- 
tician ; the civilian, and not the military man. America 
has no use for the whole army. Not any nation needs 
a standing army. If all countries could base every- 
thing upon arbitration, and the arbitrators were 
well-informed men, honest and intelligent, and who 
understand the wants of each one, the settlement w T ould 
be far more satisfactory than a resort to arms. We 
want citizens in the United States, and not soldiers. 
We want quality rather than quantity. We want 
honest men to cast their votes without being bribed by 
money, place and whisky, and to get rid of the fraud 
and froth of unprincipled men. A man who sells his 
vote, be he white or black, should never have the 
privilege of citizenship afterward. We need more 
honest, genuine good men, and less froth and aristoc- 
racy. America is becoming tainted with the mania of 
title, or what is termed positions, far too much for the 
health of a free government. It works like a malaria, 
and will destroy the vitals of any free country. The 
15* 



346 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

late Mr. Sumner entered a bill to destroy caste. It is 
the worst possible thing that can be done to try to 
force a people to an equality. There is no such thing 
as making people equal by law. 

Men may have the same privileges, but you can not 
find any two men who are equal in all things. 

Men may have similar ideas in a few things, but not 
in all. The colored man can never make a good citi- 
zen of a Republic, for he has not the elements within 
him. Slavery has brought him from barbarism, but 
not to the standard of a free man. The colored man 
is too malicious, beside which he can not properly 
understand what constitutes a well-organized govern- 
ment. He goes with his ballot to the polls, and 
thinks to cast a vote is the highest honor he can have, 
entirely forgetting it is his duty to be a good and 
peaceable citizen. He can not leave out his own selfish 
interests and feelings, and bear calmly his defeat. He 
can not understand that what is for the interest of the 
majority and beneficial to all, must be to him. I refer 
to them that you may see in them why it is Mexico, 
Spain and Cuba are constantly involved in broils. A 
majority of the citizens of those countries are inca- 
pable of understanding what a free government is. 
They are governed and ruled entirely by the animal 
passions, and such men are not capable of citizenship. 
The vote of one intelligent man should be worth that 
of many ignorant ones, and so according to his knowl- 
edge. A man who knows nothing about law is not 
capable of making laws to govern those who have such 
knowledge, or those who have a more correct idea of 
right and wrong. It requires intelligent knowledge 
for both candidate and voter. Now, if we want a man 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 347 

to preach, he is educated for that purpose, and then 
ordained, or empowered by the church, but not until 
he understands every point in the particular creed of 
that church. An engineer must be acquainted with 
the construction of his engine, and know how to govern 
it under all emergencies, before he is competent to take 
charge and control it. A teacher to instruct a pupil 
in mathematics, must have a knowledge of figures 
himself. If then it is so essential to have men edu- 
cated in religion, mechanics and mathematics to make 
them each competent, is it not more necessary that all 
voters should be competent, should be educated in that 
which constitutes and governs a free country ? 

Government is of the highest benefit to man, above 
church cr family, and yet we find very few men edu- 
cated and responsible enough to found or control one. 
Few also there are competent to cast votes to vest so 
much authority in the officers of a government. We 
have ministers sent to many different countries, and 
our interests in that country vested in that minister, 
we should, therefore, be careful to send only men of 
integrity and education. 

A government should give every individual equal 
rights and privileges, but they should be given by de- 
grees, and according to the advancement and knowledge 
of the individual. The welfare of this country should 
not be trusted to uneducated men. 

I do not mean to have them all educated in Greek 
and Latin, but in political economy. 

There is more honor in being ruled properly than in 
ruling. I spoke to you to-day of America, and in my 
next will inquire why it is necessary to have standing 
armies. Let us also inquire, what is citizenship? If 



348 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

we could have as many schools to educate men in the 
right, and in the knowledge of what constitutes citi- 
zenship, as we now have teaching a blind dogma, we 
w 7 ould then have better men and better citizens. Un- 
less some provision is made for the payment of our 
bonds now held in Europe, we shall become involved in 
a foreign war. In a Republic we must ignore sections 
in a political point of view, for whatever is good for 
the North is also good for the South, they are insepar- 
able, and will yet be made to understand it fully. 

This country is yet to become the home of freedom. 
Though the clouds which now surround it are dark 
and lowering, we hope that the spiritual light which is 
now pouring in upon it, will yet bring it out of that 
which now seems inevitable. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 349 



MOmJMENTS. 

November 3, 1874.— G. 

What mean those mighty monuments reflecting the 
sunlight, to mark the place of rest of friends departed ? 

Century after century rolls over this planet, gene- 
ration after generation peoples its surface, and make 
their home here. History records their acts, customs 
and associations, and those monuments tell of their 
exit, and serve as a mark of esteem from the loved 
ones who have been left behind. Yes, they mark the 
place where the body has been laid. Year after year 
flowers are laid upon this spot, in memory of the dear 
ones who were laid beneath. What a sad pleasure ! 
although it be said, how we love to cherish the day 
every time it returns. 

Even the savage marks the spot where they deposit 
their dead, and the civilized man can do no more. 
The heathen embalm their dead, what more has any 
other people ever done? The last sad rites! How 
often have I heard this from the lips of loved ones. 
Let us find a higher rite, a better rite, and accept a 
more intelligent knowledge of what we are, and what 
we are to be. 

Let us unravel the mystery called death. Let us 
find in this law of silence and quiescence what man is. 
Science has already discovered the materials which 



350 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

compose the body of man. Can we not find man by- 
going where metaphysics extend, that is beyond me- 
mory, beyond the tomb-stone, beyond the anniversary 
of flowers which are so carefully strewn by loving 
hands. Footprints have been left by the seers and 
prophets of the ancients. 

So have shadows been seen by moderns. They have 
also heard the tiny rap in those early and imperfect 
manifestations called spiritual, and yet upon the 
threshold of this man stands aghast. 

He knows not what is to come to pass with him, 
for he is unable to weigh and analyze the spirit as 
he does the body. It is like light, imponderable, and 
can not be gathered by any known process. 

The ancients tried and sought in the laboratory to 
confine spirit and to define it, but always failed. 

Mind is above matter, and more subtile is the 
quintessence of man. Why then, with such a mighty 
spirit power enshrined in the flesh, and having such a 
perfect organization, has science failed to comprehend 
it? Why has science failed to discover the causes of 
disease, which affect the human system ? Why can 
they not discover in man this spirit which is to live in 
the future, and which now controls man's physical 
body? As we look around, we see men to-day w r ith 
vigor and vitality, but who, on the morrow may be 
stricken with disease and the body succumb to the law 
of decay, and the spirit w T hich animated that form, set 
free to wander away to be received by some other 
power. A majority of mankind believe in immortality. 
A faint echo of the truth, that man has a soul which 
is immortal, may be gathered from man in sickness, 
for when it destroys the frame, then man looks forward 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 351 

to a future existence. Man hears the footfall of spirits 
as they gather around him, and when all his strength 
is gone, then comes the hope that his life is not yet 
ended. Why this hope? Because, spirits are mani- 
fested through the flesh, and it is natural for man to 
feel it. There is no stand-still in nature, and if man 
was always to live in one and the same condition, he 
would then be less than the stones that pave your 
streets. Then let us pursue this higher study in meta- 
physics, let us find those who have left earth, those 
who have suffered from sickness and passed through 
that experience called death. The spirit is tainted 
with the same peculiarities that the body possessed in 
earth's life. Let us break the shackles that enslave 
man, bigotry and superstition, which bind him to 
erroneous doctrines, detrimental to the higher qualities 
of the soul. Oh! let us be free. 

Yes, free in its broadest sense, free to love, to acquire 
a better knowledge, to enjoy a more fraternal religion, 
and free to love one eternal and universal God. 

As our minds expand and our souls spread out, we 
shall see the dawn of a new light, which shall come 
in, and we shall behold God without a single passion 
of the human mind. No anger to make the heart 
throb, and no remorse, but all powerful in every 
department of existence, and whose laws govern all 
nature from the lowest to the highest. There are no 
conflicts in those laws. The tornadoes of the South 
are as legitimate and natural as the calm and shining 
sun. or the gentle zephyr of the temperate zone. So 
with death, it is natural to the physical body, and we 
should not weep over death, but rejoice when one 
takes their departure in the natural way, that is, not 



352 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

through suicide nor murder. Yes, death is as natural 
as the birth of an infant. Oh, what joy in a family, 
when a new born infant comes into the house ; it is of 
interest to all the household, so it is when we come 
here. 

Many come over after a long journey on earth, and 
when we learn that a weary pilgrim has crossed over, 
that his warfare is ended, and that his body and 
spirit have dissolved conjunction, we are interested in 
him. Then does his spirit step out upon a new 
experience, then do we rejoice, for he is no stranger 
here ? How few can experience the holiness of spirit 
life. How many think this an idle place, and when 
they shall have reached it, they will have escaped 
the toils and trials of life. Not so, for spirit life is more 
active than earth's life, it is neither a dilatory exist- 
ence or nonentity. When we cross the threshold of 
life and enter this sphere, it is with all our appetites, 
desires and propensities. We bring here our sin- 
stained souls, the sins of a misguided life, a soul bound 
down with chains of bigotry, hatred and superstition. 
Then might we feel as if in a strange land, where the 
habits and customs were so different from ours we 
brought with us. Oh, what would be the fate of a 
spirit if left alone in the condition in which it appears 
here, if no friendly spirit went forth to meet and 
welcome it to its new experience, and see that it was 
well cared for? When a spirit first comes here, it is 
not capable of caring for itself, because too ignorant. 
Ignorance is the barrier which separates them 
from those who have been seeking and asking for 
something higher and better than monuments, which 
mark the resting place of friends departed. This race 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 353 

is spending thousands of dollars upon the tombs of 
the dead, and but a few hundreds to relieve the 
distress of the many in earth's life. Could any man 
unmask and remove the lethargy which stamps this 
age, he would be the greatest benefactor of the times. 
I do not say we should not care for the dead, but we 
should care more for the living. Better for us to 
attend to the morals and emotions which actuate 
children, than to the building of expensive monu- 
ments. This has been one of the failings of every 
civilized nation on earth. As they progressed in art 
and science, they developed architecture and applied 
it to building extravagant monuments, and lost sight 
of and ignored a higher life, which is more noble for 
man than all the grandeur an architect could devise. 
Man is made in the image of his Creator, having a 
part of his maker's creative power to execute. Why 
then does he not go beyond the physical life, and 
build or shape for himself a higher life than the hand 
of man can create? See how lofty is man's power. 
'Tis like the sun penetrating the soil to bring forth 
the fresh blade and bud. So man's life penetrates 
and extends into another sphere. Man should be free 
to investigate every subject, and when he receives an 
idea from any source, he should not call it humbug, 
but inquire and learn what it is, receive all its aid 
and benefits as men do from all discoveries. Man is 
a noble animal, but prone to selfishness, and he has 
always sought to make a part miserable for the 
comfort and grandeur of the rest. Humanity objects 
to sameness, hence we see vanity. Here mind is 
constantly unfolding and beholding new beauties. 
Mathematicians have concluded there was not space 



354 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

enough on earth to contain in spirit form all the 
mighty hosts who have peopled it. We must excuse 
all such computations, for they are from narrow 
minds, too small to comprehend the universe, because 
they can not measure it with a yard-stick. 'Tis 
impossible for them to comprehend a God, capable 
of creating a boundless universe, and then peopling 
it. How little do astronomers yet know of the 
universe, with its unexplored fields, and yet man 
thinks the spirit will have nothing to do when it 
leaves earth, and there will be no new science for it 
to investigate, or nothing new for it to learn in spirit 
life. How insignificant must be that mind. Years 
have rolled over my spirit life, and my mind has not 
yet been able to measure and comprehend that which 
is near to me. I have seen many, who have been 
from earth a long time, and yet they are constantly 
attracted toward it. 

We have thus tried in our own way to give evidence 
of spirit life. As man gains evidence of spirit life, 
he ascends in the same degree above the earth, and 
we, in spirit life descend, until we can hold com- 
munion. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 355 



DEMOCRATIC VICTORY. 

November 6, 1874.— & 

My son, I can not pass over the history of Tennes- 
see, and the last great victory of the democrats. I 
have watched with interest this election, and now joy 
over this democratic victory. I feel that if man was 
as desirous of cultivating and practicing the demo- 
cratic principle, as he is in promulgating its sentiments, 
what a glorious victory this would be for the South. 
At best, they are men of the nineteenth century, 
looking for office and for the remunerative honors, 
which usually accrue from such office. 

This is the highest aim in a political victory, as 
man can see nothing beyond his own part. Is there 
no way by which a more conciliatory spirit could be 
put into such men, and give them more extended 
views of the welfare of one another? I know men are 
capable of greater and better things than they now 
do. I know there are minds, both in the Xorth and 
South, who have wisdom enough to wrest the people 
from the present great crisis that has paralyzed trade 
in every department. We have looked from the 
highest spheres into the the various political parties 
of this country, and felt that party could not, and 
does not, have one idea above selfishness and narrow 
mindedness, which is as detrimental to a party, as to 



356 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

individuals. Yet these parties still claim something 
to quarrel over, and what is that mighty thing now ? 
Slavery is gone. Yet the minds of the leaders are so 
creative, that soon some other idea will be sprung to 
keep up the excitement. 

As soon as a political champion is installed in office, 
he forgets who it was that placed him there. The 
poor man is then forgotten, he is left out of considera- 
tion, and the man of influence or of trade, is chosen 
to fill and control every office in the United States. 

The poor man with horny hands, is never again 
thought of until needed. He is allowed to return to 
his lowly cabin and to partake of corn cake and 
middling, if he is fortunate enough to have them, 
perhaps not knowing from whence the next meal is 
to come, or how he will be able to gain enough means 
to pay his poll tax. Is that man free? I ask from 
no selfish motive, but to awaken humanity to a 
higher sense of its duty. Now, will this democratic 
victory benefit the poor class? Will it free this land 
from taxes, and enable the poor man, who has a little 
land, to live upon it without its being so heavily 
taxed? The poor man is scarcely benefitted by his 
vote. We see an effort is being made, apparently, (I 
say apparently, for it is only so,) to help the poor 
man and his farm, by the grangers. 

Now, what are they? They are like all parties 
created for selfish motives, to delude the ignorant 
and overawe the weak. We know it is proper to 
have small taxation, but why should the people be so 
heavily taxed? Why should the poor man, who buys 
a home for a great price, and who has many children 
to feed, clothe and school, with only a small income, 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 357 

be forced to pay such a heavy tax? I hope the 
democracy will look into this in their victory, and 
not forget the poor man and grind him beneath their 
heel. Let them be sure they have not misnamed 
themselves, but be true to the sentiments that 
democracy professes. Can not this political revolution 
result in the welfare of the whole people? Can not 
those who have been elected to office be honest and 
sincere, interested in the prosperity and happiness of 
all the people in the State? Why does this great 
republic keep such a standing army in the South? 
Why do we hear of so many outbreaks, insurrections, 
distrusts of elections and malfeasance in office in the 
various departments of the South? Is this not a 
Christian nation, a civilized people, an example to the 
whole world, and is it not a free country? Oh, may 
the record for the next two years be more free from 
bloodshed than the past two have been. But will it 
be? Will the eagle of liberty, that great bird of the 
United States, spread his wings in jubilant feeling, 
and know that this country is more free under demo- 
cratic control, than it has been under its political 
opponents ? We sympathize with the subjects of this 
country. We say subjects, because they are not free. 
This people have been looking forward for a long time 
for something better, and hope has been the anchor 
which has sustained them. The greater the agitation, 
and the more excited the people become, the more does 
it betoken a coming storm. Why are the people of 
this country so agitated from one end of the country 
to another? Can we not have peace and prosperity, 
with all the great spread bounty now pouring in upon 
us from every source? Oh no! for we see that man, 



358 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

with his crafty nature, is not satisfied. The leaders 
are constantly telling the masses that thus and so is 
for the prosperity of the country, while perhaps it has 
nothing to do with it, only with themselves. It is 
honesty that is now wanting in every department of 
our government. When the next two years shall 
have rolled around, I hope we may meet again. We 
will then look back and see all the good this great 
victory has achieved. May it be for the supreme good 
of all, is my sincere wish. 

Will we then have as many convicts in the peni- 
tentiary, as many criminals in jail and work-house, 
will there be as many quarrels and law suits, and as 
many victims for the gallows? Ah, this political 
victory is no moral victory, we have only changed 
names. Mankind has not changed, they carry the 
same pack of sin wherever they go. Even the Chris- 
tian home will not redeem the Magdalenes of your city. 
Its matrons are followers of Christ, and try to incul- 
cate their faith into the minds of the poor outcast, who 
seeks that home. This faith is shrouded in mystery 
and clothed in superstition, and can not be compre- 
hended by any intelligent mind. 

Oh, what must be the morals of a nation, which 
accepts such a faith ? Show me the political status of 
a country, and I can measure its religious sentiments, 
faith and knowledge. The mariner on the bosom of 
the ocean can always foretell the coming storm, by its 
looking black around him. So we can foretell a storm 
in the moral horizon, by the blackness, and agitated 
condition of the masses. That which is called death 
to universal life, is but a commotion of power in the 
body, often greater than that which is ever experi- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 359 

enced when in the full enjoyment of our strength and 
faculties. When the churches have to resort to so 
many hobbies, to sustain them, we know they are 
weak within. They themselves feel that internally 
they are rotten. This betokens that there is a religious 
as well as political crisis approaching. 

We see the old regime dying out in the country, 
and it shakes the civil foundations of this government 
to its very center. So with the corner-stone, the 
foundation upon which its religion is built, it is giving 
away. The analysis, which has been made of it by 
science, has disentegrated its particles, and Christ no 
longer stands out in bold relief as God. 

This child of science, was not born in a manger, 
but in an humble abode, and like all great truths, 
was discovered by plain simple people. With their 
faith, they have gathered a knowledge of charity 
deep and broad, which is possessed by the savage as 
well as the civilized man, because it is one of the 
attributes of Deity. This principle, neither priest nor 
pope can usurp, it is a principle of wisdom, which 
will open the doors of selfish priestly power, tear 
away the vail from those false temples which assume 
incarnate power, that can be possessed by one alone, 
and that is God. There is but one redemption for 
man. Man only can redeem himself by living 
according to the laws of charity, and doing unto 
others as he would they should do unto him. Let 
every American look well to the politics and the 
religion of his country. Let him cultivate brotherly 
love, and learn that money can never make any dis- 
tinction between man and man, by the Creator of all, 
neither can it buy his salvation. Let Americans look 



360 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

less to titled nobility. There is no greater nobility 
for man than to be honest and truthful. Let those 
men recently elected be honest in the laws they enact. 
Let those laws be for the good of all, and not for 
their own benefit, or to foster and protect monopoly 
and speculation. 

We must beware and not give government too 
much power over the people. Let us have a free 
religion and a free government. Let us have free 
mission homes for those children born in hovels, raised 
in the lowest dens of wickedness, permitted to wan- 
der through the streets and byways begging, or 
perhaps stealing. Let us care for those little ones, 
before they are broken down in body and polluted in 
thought, and before that age in which they seek your 
mission home, because pride keeps them from labor. 
Oh, Christian matrons, extend your hands to those 
small girls and children, now living and associating 
with negroes, and without any moral restraint or 
training. If you would take them while young, there 
would be some hope that you could make something 
out of them. They sadly need the care of some 
fraternity, to raise them to a higher and better con- 
dition than that in which they now live. I have 
slightly touched upon religion, with government, 
because they are inseparable. What does this low 
state of morals indicate? 

- From my boyhood up, I have heard it taught that 
man must have faith in his redemption by Christ, but 
I tell you man must have faith in his own individu- 
ality for good. Man must believe that by doing good 
he becomes better, and until he does this, he can not 
benefit himself, the community in which he lives, nor 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 361 

his government. Man must believe in his own 
capacity for good, and the officers who control this 
government must exercise that good, or they will find 
that this government is fragile, and will be easily 
broken. So with churches, unless they too exercise 
this good, they will all soon lose their power. 

When man practices the vilest and basest forms of 
corruption to accumulate wealth, any religious system 
will surely fail that sanctions it. Churches should be 
open to all alike, Jew and Gentile. 

Their shrine should be sacred to every human soul, 
and its music and teachings should be to elevate man 
and increase his hope in God. Let the churches do 
away with so many begging societies, which disgust 
those outside of them. Is religion so expensive that 
those who attend service should be taxed to death for 
a little music and a few prayers on Sunday? The poor 
mother can scarcely give her daughter a dress to fit 
her for the requirements of Sunday-school, because so 
heavily taxed for the privilege. Concerts and fairs 
are the order of the day in this country, to keep up the 
churches. Is this like the churches of early Christians, 
and is this the religion Christ taught and left for his 
disciples to teach? Did he command his followers to 
have large churches on a fashionable street, with 
cushioned seats and a massive organ? Are these the 
luxuries the primitive Christians hoped to enjoy. No ! 
it was the morals of mankind they strove to improve. 
Then let those matrons who receive the money for 
fairs, concerts and mite societies, put it to a better 
use. 

Let it be expended to raise and support the many 
destitute and helpless children in your midst, and to 
16 



362 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

instruct them in honesty, truthfulness and virtue, 
instead of the dogma of the church. 

There is good in them and in all human nature, and 
let it be developed. . Christ said, "let not your right 
hand know what your left hand doeth," but not so now, 
for we have the daily press to herald and magnify the 
deeds of Christians. A few Sundays since I took my 
way through the several churches in your city. I saw 
a people well and elaborately dressed, sitting at ease 
in their cushioned seats, languidly listening to their 
preacher, or to the fine music of the choir. As I came 
forth and left the sweet sounds of the organ vibrating 
among the arches, I went directly to the lower part of 
your city. There I found gathered together in groups, 
or in saloons, the white and black, the old and young, 
to spend this their only holiday. Now, this rabble are 
not allowed to enter those fine churches, as they are 
not able to wear fine clothes. No, these churches were 
built for those who can dress well, ride in a fine car- 
riage and perform all those acts which society 
demands. So in a few minutes I could thus bring 
together the extremes, the well dressed Christians on 
one side and those Sunday revellers, called rabble, on 
the other. They had worked their six days and yet 
how small the sum they had received, in comparison 
with the man in a bank, shaving notes, or the mer- 
chant selling his goods at one hundred per cent, profit. 
In this way, the rich gather in what the poor man 
earns, and then he is left to feed on the coarsest food 
and drink the poorest liquor, which so maddens his 
brain. 

No doubt that the minister in the elegant church 
would be terribly shocked, to see his miserable fellow 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 363 

beings spending on Sunday all their small earnings of 
the week, to get something to excite their minds. 

It is natural for the mind to seek excitement. The 
mind that has followed the hands in labor for six days, 
needs recreation. Who counts this sin? Ah, the 
priest says it is, but is that poor wretch to be damned 
for that? Yet for ail that, this poor man can vote. 
Ah yes, the president and office seeker is glad to get 
his vote. The organ in the church sounds as sweetly 
to those within, as if those poor people did not exist, 
and who that is there ever gives them a thought, or 
does them a kind act ? Think you no one cares for 
them? 'Tis said, a sparrow falls not to the ground 
without its father's notice, and yet how much more 
does he not care for those, his children ? There is no 
communism in Tennessee, but oh, so much the more 
pity. 

Christ entered into the temple and condemned 
those who taught there. How much is there left of 
that spirit, which loves universal justice? Who now 
enters the church on Sunday morning and condemns 
the wicked there ? If all those who attend church are 
Christians, could they not do an immense amount of 
good, by showing a benevolent spirit of love and 
kindness in aiding those poor outcasts ? They seem 
so apt at inventing fairs and mite societies, could they 
not invent something which would assist the working 
classes, the mudsills, woodsawyers and rag-pickers, 
to a higher condition ? Be not afraid, ye fair dames, 
of soiling your hands, by helping and improving 
them. Now, if we claim this a great political victory, 
let us be actuated and governed by the great prin- 
ciple, which the democratic party professes, and one 



364 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

which should govern every citizen of this republic. 
We have built jails, work-houses and prisons, but 
now let us build something nobler and better for the 
poor man. Let us build a home, where he can find 
employment, gain some knowledge, and improve his 
morals, and then this people will have founded some- 
thing to be proud of. 

Let this people cease to give their charity in such 
a misdirected manner. Let them, instead, erect with 
those means commune homes, where every one can 
do his own share of labor, and he will be fed, clothed 
and cared for. Let this be a grand home, where the 
poor can live without any incentive to crime or 
immoral conduct. This is an enterprise our whole 
country should be interested in, and the sooner it is 
began, the better for the race. The principal object 
of the philanthropist of the nineteenth century 
should be to elevate the morals of the whole com- 
munity. 

We ask not that man should have a supernatural 
belief, only that he shall believe in himself, educate 
and elevate himself above crime, now so broadcast 
over this whole country. By doing this, he will give 
and receive great good. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 365 



FAITH. 

November 13, 1874.— S. 

My son, I now propose to discuss faith, and without 
defining it, will say, we must have faith in a friend 
before we can enjoy his society. 

We must have faith also in our religion, although 
faith does not make it either true or false. 

Faith strengthens our interest, stays our mind, and 
gives a comfort we can not get from any other source. 

The mind is so constituted that faith is one of its 
essential elements, and without faith a knowledge of 
the most sublime fact in the world can not benefit us. 
If we are sick and send for a physician, in order to 
have a rapid recovery, we must have full confidence 
in his knowledge and skill. The mind has a powerful 
influence over the physical system. For instance, if 
we persuade a man that he has taken poison, and he 
believes that to be strictly true, that man might die 
from fright. There are men whose minds have such a 
powerful control over their bodily forces, that the body 
loses its power under the influence of the mind, and 
vitality ceases. 

Now, if the body can become a victim to faith in 
which there is no reality, you can easily perceive that 
we can have faith in a falsity as well as a reality. So 
are we made happy or miserable, according to our 



366 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

faith. If we believe in any form of religion, in order 
to derive any benefit from it, we must believe it to be 
strictly true. It is this supreme faith in our religion 
that gives us the only consolation we can receive from 
it. Now, a faith in the orthodox religion of to-day, 
makes as many or even more miserable than it makes 
happy, according to the individuality of each. A deep 
and concentrated faith in the religion of to-day can not 
bring happiness to any reasonable human being with a 
well-balanced mind. Such a mind could have no pleas- 
ure in the belief that a part of the human family were 
destined to suffer eternal punishment. If any man or 
woman has such a faith, it is because they have never 
investigated it, and the faculties of reason have never 
been developed in them— their mind is short and con- 
tracted. They have received it without reflection, and 
thus have become satisfied in its truth that a portion 
of our race will necessarily be subjected to infinite 
torture. 

This statement has been received without thought 
or reason, because promulgated by a priest, and it is 
deemed essential that all the articles of faith and pro- 
visions of salvation as taught by him should be 
accepted. Who can believe in a personal God? What 
is Deity ? Is God not omniscient, omnipotent and om- 
nipresent? Could that spirit which pervades immensity, 
be extracted from the whole creation, and concentrated 
to impregnate Mary for the redemption of man from 
hell? Is it not the doctrine of the Church? To me it 
is incomprehensible how such a faith can rest in any 
reasonable mind. We will not reject the Scriptures, as 
we find in them some enlightened sentiments to refer to. 
God created man in his own image, says the record. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 367 

Then God was before man. else he could not have 
created him. Whether made from the earth or not, 
that creative intelligence had sufficient knowledge of 
chemicals to combine them in harmony, and through 
a law of the highest order brought out a living, mov- 
ing, intelligent animal, called man, and he is yet the 
finest mechanism ever constructed. Now, a faith in 
a God of such knowledge and power is a divine faith, 
and opens a field of thought exceedingly extensive. 
From our standpoint, we can look back through the 
mighty past, and recall the image of that first man 
who came from the hand of creative intelligence. 

He was placed upon this planet as his abode, and 
that of billions of generations which were to come after 
him. But, behold! 'tis said that after a lapse of time 
this same creative intelligence who made man, lost his 
power over him, and he who wrought those elements 
through the crucible to make man, became so deteri- 
orated, that man became his maker's superior. The 
regular laws of nature which had been flowing on for 
centuries, and by which the human family had been 
propagated, were then reverted, to perform a miracle 
that a child might be born of a virgin immaculate. 
We will not try to annul this allegory and figure, but 
discuss it as the church receives it. Jesus, Son of God, 
born of an immaculate virgin. Now, for what pur- 
pose? Our divines teach to redeem man. Christians 
claim that his crucifixion w r as full and sufficient expi- 
ation for the sins of this whole planet. Is there 
happiness and consolation in the thought, that man 
became so depraved and wicked, as to thwart the will 
and wishes of the great eternal essee of spirit, and 
that his wisdom and power for good over man was 



368 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

entirely lost, and that he who was an expiation for the 
sins of the whole world, should fall into the hands of 
the rabble, and become their victim ; otherwise that 
God was crucified by man and died ? Does a faith in 
this victim give comfort and consolation in the hour 
of trouble ? Now, if it be truth that Jesus was God, 
that by* a miracle, by a retrogression of law he was 
born of woman, then he must have lost his entire 
power, for he was apprehended, controlled, and cruci- 
fied by a rabble. He 'did arise from his dead body, and 
ascend to heaven, but I will not stop to disturb this 
assertion by asking where he is now, or what he is do- 
ing for the good of the human race, but will ask has 
the world been redeemed from sin ? Most civilized 
nations have accepted this faith, and now I will ask, 
if after an experience of two thousand years, have 
mankind been redeemed by it? If so, why all these 
wars, murders, thefts, and a whole catalogue of crime 
too long to mention? Does this faith control man, and 
release him from the bondage of sin in this world ? 
If not, where is the potency ? and if it does, why do 
so many seek crime ? We can not get away from facts, 
and we want to dissect this faith in a dead God. This 
faith may bring consolation to one who is freed from 
the temptations that beset the millions. Such an one 
looks only at the better portion of his church creed. I 
say then, faith in the atonement has not released man 
from crime. Now, is this faith, or the want of it? It 
is very easy for man to say he has faith, without hav- 
ing a particle. But let the church have full faith in 
the immaculate condition of the human race. Pro- 
gression is the law, and not retrogression. 

God can not go back from his deific power. He can 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 369 

not annul himself, there is no change in his power. 
Man can degrade himself, but God can not, neither 
can he dethrone himself. We must receive religion by 
degrees, as man himself has gradually advanced in 
humanity for ages, from the Adamite to the present 
time. Step by step man has been gaining knowledge 
in the various sciences that benefit his race. So man 
will continue to ascend, but he can never be above his 
maker. Let us feel and cultivate a faith in this uni- 
versal power. 

Let science tear asunder the vail of this great temple, 
so that man can approach a higher faith, a conception 
of virgin truth in the sun of righteousness, in that all- 
pervading love which will unite and bring out of chaos 
the whole human family. 

If woman can find a shrine where she can offer up 
her prayers with more fervency, and with a higher 
hope than for the salvation of the whole human family, 
then let her do it. How much good has been done by 
this faith, or how much will yet be done by it, we will 
not now stop to consider. We will not ask how many 
disconsolate and distressed mortals have received com- 
fort, not from their dead God, but from this faith in 
him. 

In sorrow and affliction the soul seeks comfort 
from something higher than human agency. If we 
call it Jesus, what is there in a name ? It does not 
diminish the power of Deity, nor confine it. We will 
not cavil at this faith, but ask that you also have faith 
in that divine love which strengthens, supports and 
helps the whole human family. It was this same di- 
vine spirit which overshadowed Mary, when she gave 
birth to him who was quickened by divine love, so as 
16* 



370 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

to minister to the lowest condition of the human 
family. Let us have this faith and cultivate it. 

Let our faith be like the newly rising sun, which 
grows brighter as it gradually rises higher. So let us 
rise until we can take in the whole creation of God's 
children. They are not necessarily blessed nor cursed 
any more than they should be by the conditions which 
surround them. A few months since, in the East, 
torrents swept over and destroyed towns, dwellings and 
people. So does vice and immorality now sweep over 
the world, and obliterate for a time the best and 
purest feelings of the human mind. 

Let us then gain a knowledge of that faith which 
guides, controls and directs the highest sphere. 

May it descend on us, so that we can realize that 
God is all wise, all powerful, and that he will surely 
harvest and bring home all his children in his oivn good 
time. We say he, because it is customary, but we 
can not make a masculine nor feminine God. His 
power is beyond the scope of the human mind to 
conceive. He can not be confined, nor defined. Let 
us gather to ourselves a portion of this great spirit 
which overshadowed Mary, and whispered to Jesus 
the highest and noblest philanthropy that ever blessed 
any human being. Let us ask in faith, that we too 
may be born of virgin truth and wisdom, endowed 
with like meek and submissive spirit, yet bold and 
fearless in all our actions for good, as that which 
actuated Jesus in his short life. Let us crave more 
of Ms spirit of love, and learn less of priest-made 
creeds, and our faith will benefit ourselves and our 
fellow beings. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 371 



SPIRIT COMMUNION. 

December 11, 1874.— S. 

My son, am glad to meet you. You had a pleasant 
journey to New Orleans and back again, I hope. 

So rapidly. Who could have believed it twenty- 
five years ago. (Who went with me to care for me ?) 
Your mother, for we, in angelic life, are still attached 
to our children, and your mother has now all the 
warm love she gave to you, the first child of her 
motherhood. 

Nothing can separate a mother's love from her 
children, when that mother is fully developed and has 
a legitimate affection for her offspring. How beauti- 
fully she watches over you, how carefully she guides 
and directs you. Oh, could humanity realize this 
sweet love of spirit life, with affections so deep, firm 
and sincere, for those who linger upon the shores of 
life, for those who are still battling with the diffi- 
culties which surround them. We are always ready 
to help them, and enjoy with them all of life there 
is enjoyable. What law of God's kingdom, or 
universe, is of more advantage to humanity than that 
law which permits spirits to recognize earthly friends, 
and to be near earth's sphere to help them? Why 
does Christianity, so-called, battle against this law of 
communion? Why does it try to deprive humanity 



372 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

of the greatest principle ever discovered for the 
benefit of mankind ? Why should the wisdom of a 
divine father prevent a mother and father from 
beholding the offspring they brought into existence, 
and so fondly tended while in infancy? The promul- 
gation of a knowledge of spirit communing with 
humanity is no death-knell to any divine law. It 
does not annihilate a single moral principle. We 
should be taught in earth's life to cherish the memory 
of those who have left the form, and to recognize this 
law of communion, which is as true as was the 
transit of Venus a few days since, and it is as far 
above the control of earthly, or arbitrary power. The 
time has come when we must have something more 
substantial for man to build upon. We must educate 
him so that he will hold his propensities and passions 
in control, and be above crime. There has been so 
many scientific facts revealed to man in the last few 
years, and we wonder why they do not benefit him 
morally, and advance him scientifically to a higher 
moral standpoint in spiritual law. 

We know the old dogma of Christianity is crumb- 
ling, and the structure built upon it tumbling to a 
fall. Man must find a surer footing than that to 
build and predicate a religious belief upon. For 
twenty-five years this question about the appearance 
of spirit to earth's life, has been agitated from one 
end of this continent to the other. 

The best men of our country have investigated this 
question and written about it. It has made rapid 
strides, and thousands have embraced its truth as 
their faith, while many others have been startled by 
its demonstrations. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 373 

Busy pens have also called it humbug and trickery. 
We ask why should they cavil at what they know 
nothing about? We find that it is the most blind 
and dogmatic who are denouncing it. 

Why should any man at this age of the world 
battle with a truth so fully capable of demonstration 
as spiritual communion? What would the world now 
say, if astronomers should assert as they did in former 
times, that the world stands still ? Yet that would 
be as reasonable as to denounce this great fact, which 
is shaking Christianity so terribly. The spirit is not 
so material that man can handle it, or cut it as he 
does a stick of wood. The time is fast approaching 
when man can demonstrate it to all, as readily as he 
now does the different elements in the atmosphere, 
which he breathes. Yet how few are willing to 
comply with the plain and simple conditions, which 
are required for a mortal to be able to hold communion 
with his spirit friends. 

It is a simple mental process, a law of harmony, 
and yet the bigot who is ignorant of that law, pro- 
nounces it a fraud. Every chemist well knows when 
he is trying experiments with various metals, that he 
must proceed according to certain fixed laws govern- 
ing every material which he wishes to use. 

Now, before he can gain any knowledge of separa- 
ting or mixing any substance, he has to submit to 
and be governed by the law which controls the 
elements of that body. In order to be successful 
with his experiments, he must be familiar with what 
he undertakes to do. Spiritualism is yet in its 
infancy, in regard to its scientific process of com- 
munication. We see many effects without under- 



374 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

standing how they were brought about. An idea 
may have existed in the minds of man for centuries, 
before it was brought out or developed into a shape 
so as to be subservient to the use of man, and I 
might add, that the more sublime the law governing 
anything, the more difficult it becomes to conquer or 
comprehend. There are many things which men see 
that they do not comprehend, yet they are obliged to 
acknowledge as facts. For example, a man lies dead 
before them. They see his corpse stiff and cold, and 
say he is dead, but they can go no farther, it is too 
metaphysical for them to understand. God has made 
manifest to all the world, what death is to the mind. 
Now there is something lacking in that cold form. It 
was made manifest, only through and in that form 
which held it. This was a law connecting spirit with 
materiality, holding the physical and being developed 
together with it as a trinity, life, motion and form. 
I say spirit, mind and body is a trinity, one can not 
exist without the other. This trinity is made up of 
different materials constituting man. This chemical 
blending together has come through a law of God, 
who by his own crucible put all the elements into 
that form which we call man and woman. I will 
not stop to discuss sex now, while trying to give you 
some idea of what spirit life is. 

Now, when all the elements, solids, fluids and gases 
which constitute the human frame are scattered, who 
shall be able to gather them and hold them together. 
They have come from a crucible as high above man's 
knowledge as the sun which lights our planet is above it. 
Those elements are indestructible, incarnated and inter- 
blended by a law of harmony. We have a spiritual 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 375 

nature which is active, it moves the muscles, and causes 
the brain to act. The brain is as much obliged to act 
as the engine is to move by steam, or a light body to 
float upon the water. Man is obliged to have a spirit, 
it is a law of nature. The physical body is composed 
of many elements, and so is the spiritual body. 

Now*, those elements which compose the spiritual 
body do not need a grand long journey to find a home. 
Because man dies, it does not, therefore, follow that he 
must take a journey far away from the dear ones lie 
leaves in the form, as then he might never see them 
again. We must not separate spirits too far away 
from man in the active life of earth. Does man com- 
municate with his spirit friends ? is a question that 
must be settled at some time, and the sooner it is 
done, the better for humanity. If they do not communi- 
cate, why have so many thousands been deceived, from 
the earliest records of man to the present time ? It is 
important for the people of this country that these 
questions should be answered. They are of the most 
vital interest to the welfare of humanity. Let them 
be pressed upon the scientific man and the minister 
to solve. 

It is all important that we should make a struggle 
for the improvement of the human race. 

Building churches, and taking sacrament has not 
relieved the world of poverty and crime, which is now 
so rampant in every class of society. We will show 
to the world what good Spiritualism can do. 

It is a great truth, and shall yet be the pabulum 
that will move humanity for good. Man wants intel- 
ligence, he wants information, he wants honesty, he 
wants truth and sincerity, and these things are what 



376 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

spirits are capable of teaching. Man seeking informa- 
tion from the spirit world, can do so only by adopting 
a simple arrangement by which alone spirits can ap- 
proach and communicate with him. We proceed step 
by step, and so gather strength and power to benefit 
him. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 377 



MATERIALIZATION. 

December 18, 1874.— 8. 

My son, we will touch but lightly to-day upon this 
excessive desire to materialize the spirit after the death 
of the body. If it was the only fraud cast upon the 
great ocean of humanity, as spiritualists, we might 
wince a little, and be silent. But, no ! there seems to 
be now such a monstrosity in the mind which molds 
and makes for itself all manner of frauds, that neither 
benefit the individual nor the world. Then we need 
not be astonished that those who claim a knowledge 
of immortality, but who were raised and educated in 
the belief of the miraculous, should claim the wonder- 
ful power to materialize spirits at their option, which 
should appear like beings in earth's life. This is only 
in keeping with the age, as we can readily perceive 
if we look at the works of the most popular writers. 
Notice the desire of everybody to exaggerate and con- 
tort all manner of ideas in giving them expression. 
It is not only with unscrupulous people we see this 
desire, but with those of true intellect and firm in- 
tegrity, who should be the instructors and example of 
this age. You can readily appreciate this by exam- 
ining the literature of the age, whose authors seek to 
devour one another as wolves do their prey. But 
truth, like the great ocean that separates continents, 



378 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

ever remains the same, and upon its great bosom can 
still be reflected a knowledge of immortality as clearly 
as the ocean reflects the stars. Sweet strains of music 
in the distance are wafted to our ears upon the breeze, 
but who can materialize that sound? Yet how charm- 
ing and soothing it is to us. It strengthens us, gives 
us hope, and speaks to our feelings more definitely 
than can the tongue of any human being. We can 
conceive sound, but can not materialize it. It touches 
our organs lightly, which vibrate gently, and it soothes 
us mentally, yet we can not see nor handle it. "Tis 
the essee of the intellect of man which brings forth 
those sweet sounds from an instrument. He strikes 
a dead instrument, but brings forth from it a sound, 
which is a spirituality as real as the instrument from 
which it came. Yet, what eye hath seen that sound, 
what hand has held it or handled it ? Man might be 
considered a compound animal, or with a compound 
intellect which is made up not with the five senses 
alone, but with another, a higher spiritual sense which 
has not yet been defined. The spirit is like an infant 
delivered from its mother, and it is beginning to mani- 
fest itself more and more. Your perceptions of them 
is not merely those of sound and materialization, but 
a recognition of the existence of loved ones, who have 
been drawn from that cold body. Yes, this is music 
drawn from an instrument, drawn from material man 
by that power of intellect which holds all things in 
harmony. It is a great power by which man governs 
an instrument, and brings forth from it harmonious 
sounds. It is a greater power, a higher and more 
sublimated law which brings out of material man an 
etherealized body capable of moving, thinking, reflecting 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 379 

and possessing all of the finer sensibilities which that 
man possessed in earth's life, only in a fuller extent. 
'T is like an apple which was first in the seed, but after 
it has gone through its full process of development, 
we then have fine ripe fruit, luscious to the taste, and 
beneficial to the stomach. The apple is nourished, and 
when completely developed, it falls from the tree, so 
is the spirit nourished, and when it becomes developed 
it falls from the body. 

When thus separated, this new being is called 
immortal by sages, and it is no new theory, it is only 
becoming known as man progresses in the knowledge 
of himself and of creation. The grave is essential 
for the corpse, and let friends continue to decorate it 
with flowers and commemorate the virtues of the 
dead with a tombstone. But let the sage and think- 
ing man search above the flowers and above the tomb- 
stone, for that which has emanated from that body, 
which lies beneath them. Who dare deny to man 
that privilege, or what philosopher or priest can say 
thus far and no farther shalt thou go, to learn the 
truth and that law which governs the mind and 
spirit of man? I compared man with an apple. 
The plainest husbandman can comprehend, that by 
planting its germ, he can raise the tree, but it took 
a keener insight into the laws of nature than his to 
find out why the apple fell from the tree to the earth. 
It was a long time before this beautiful law of attrac- 
tion and affinity was discovered, although it had 
existed for untold centuries, but who dares to deny 
this law to-day? Then why should not this spirit, the 
fruit of the body when it is matured, and drops, or 
separates from that body, fall into the bosom of its 



380 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

own family by the law of attraction and affinity? 
What better place can man hope to find, or what 
greater pleasures expect to enjoy, than with his own 
beloved kindred? Then why do all not learn, that a 
family circle here can send forth messages of love and 
hope to the dear ones in earth's life? Tis not wise 
to deny too much, nor trust to everything. We 
should allow free scope to all things and prepare our 
minds to accept whatever is proven beyond a doubt. 
It is less dangerous to believe too much than not 
enough. 

Many men pride themselves upon their skepticism, 
and in them we find an incubus to progression. Man 
grows restless and impatient in life, forgetful of his 
maker and doubtful of his future, he is then of little 
benefit to his age and in a pitiable condition. 

We are striving to give man hope, it is the sun- 
light which will illuminate his path through the valley 
of death, whenever he approaches the vale. Truth 
remains the same, whether man believes it or not. 

It is not merely man's opinion, but an illimitable 
law above and beyond the control of any class of men 
or women. In every age, immortality, in some shape 
or other, has been accepted as true, and man has 
always believed that he continued to exist after his 
physical body was buried. Spirit manifestations have 
always been granted to sages and seers of civilized 
nations, while barbarous nations have believed in the 
immortality of man. Churches are now gathering 
in as many proselytes as possible, whose members 
think they are ready and have a passport to heaven, 
when they shall have done with the things of life. 
Now this may have been well enough for the time in 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 381 

which it was instituted, and perhaps it was the best 
plan the mind of man could then grasp. 

But let not the church now try to turn the key to 
the temple of truth, or deny to humanity the right 
to any further search, or to add to their knowledge 
that of immortality, and receive from it that comfort 
and happiness which the world can not give. Heaven 
can not be gained through sprinkling of water, nor 
through the sacrament and belief in the crucifixion 
of Jesus eighteen hundred years ago. Man in order 
to improve, must cultivate his mind as the herdsman 
does his flock for a better breed, and the husband- 
man does his trees for a better fruit. 

Let the church cultivate the mind and apply all 
its energies to develope in man more humanity and 
less ambition, more truth and less hypocrisy. Let 
man learn that he is one of a great family, in part 
responsible for the crimes of the generation in which he 
lives and by which he suffers. Let humanity prepare 
to receive the spirits of the departed, who are always 
trying to open the temple door and illuminate them 
all by love, charity, magnanimity and equality. 
These are the lights which shine in spirit life, and 
they will dispel the clouds that hover so near to 
earth and make man so selfish. Yes, man now wraps 
his mantle of selfishness around him, and feels that 
he is not of a common humanity. Man may count 
his bonds by millions, which were gained by specula- 
tion. Oh speculation ! it brings crimes of the blackest 
dye. Man now claims that he is the highest and 
noblest animal upon earth, and yet he is not above the 
propensities that govern the lowest order of animals. 
We seek through spirit influence to throw light upon 



382 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

man's thoughts and actions, to open the black chasm 
that yawns around him, and show him how he is 
swallowed up in the maelstrom of this monster vice, 
speculation. Man now has an insatiate desire to be rich. 
Why should he crave so much ? In his efforts to gratify 
this sordid desire, he loses sight of that which is more 
important to him than all the gold ever coined, and 
all the precious stones ever discovered. A pure con- 
science is of more value than them all. 

Then man, look well to us in our spirit home, who 
from our ethereal substance can behold your heart, 
your desires and your actions, as distinctly as man 
can hear the voice of a friend, who speaks to him in 
earth's form. When man can comprehend that nothing 
is hidden from us, that everything is revealed to this 
spiritual life and to his family and friends here, then 
will he become more circumspect in his doings. In 
all our communications from spirit life, we seek only 
to benefit humanity. This is a mission which is 
granted to us by a higher law of attraction and 
affinity. Then let humanity open wide its doors to 
those visitors who seek only its welfare, and who will 
take away from mankind its burden of guilt and 
shame, and elevate them by our influence to justice 
and purity. The world knows what effect influence 
produces ; whether it be good or bad, it is alike con- 
tagious. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 383 



MOSES. 

January 8, 1875.— S. 

My son, bless you ! These emotions of pleasure are 
a kindred affinity of heaven. Moses saw, and it is so 
stated in the record, (which I will accept as true,) a 
burning bush. He reflected and felt that there was 
something in that burning bush, which illuminated 
but did not consume it. This wonderful power sent 
forth illuminated his brain, controlled his actions and 
benefitted his nation. It made him governor, law 
maker, leader and controller. It took him from the 
slavish nature of bondage in which he was born. A 
more enlightened nation had held his people in sub- 
jection, and felt that those servants were too far 
beneath them to teach them or proselyte them to 
their own belief in the present or the future. It was 
enough for them to know they were their beasts of 
burden. They performed the duty of slaves, a ser- 
vice felt to be beneath the dignity of that enlightened 
nation. Yet here is one whom they had nurtured, if 
we accept the tale. The free intellect developed in 
that man gave him a mind to reflect, and when he had 
defended one of his own nation, we learn that he 
escaped from the penalty. 

He gathered knowledge from the same source as that 
by which the bush was illumined and burned, but 
consumed not. This was the power that carried him 



384 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

along, the wisdom which governed him and made him 
not only a benefit to the Jews, but to all civilized 
nations. 

Now this bush will be the foundation of my remarks 
to-day. I would ask the learned divines, what kind 
of fire was that, which did not consume ? What were 
the primary elements that constituted that light? 

Let the clergy and philosophers explain this, and 
when they have done that beyond a doubt, they will 
then have a key, which will unlock the great temple 
so long closed against humanity. It is this essential 
knowledge, which man is now seeking. This key 
spirits now possess, and they have come to man in 
this nineteenth century to help him produce the 
wards which are lacking in that lock, so they can 
open the temple door. Yes, two thousand years from 
what is called the birth of Christianity, we come to 
assist man, that he may penetrate and stand upon 
another and higher round of this great ladder of 
progression. If Moses had remained in the house of 
Pharaoh, could he have beheld this bush? No! the 
elements there were not sufficient to have produced 
it. This sage, philosopher and great law-maker was 
able to bring forth water from stone. This was 
another wonderful power developed by this sage. 
Was it merely to quench the thirst of those children 
of Israel who were seeking a new home, or was it to 
be reflected to this age, as a symbol to Christian 
churches ? Did it serve the double purpose of quench- 
ing the thirst of the children of Israel, and also a 
symbol to the churches of the nineteenth century? 
We see in this man Moses, a wonderful self-denial, 
an untiring zeal for the welfare of his own nation. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 385 

He left his father-in-law and flocks, and returned 
to Egypt, that he might release his own people from 
servitude. He need not have done this, but might 
have remained retired in his shepherd's life, enjoying 
the hospitality of his father-in-law, and receiving the 
affection of his wife. But no, we see him without any 
thought of compensation go from his own home, with- 
out being prompted to do it by any human being. He 
sacrificed his selfish interests, and took upon himself 
the most trying position any man could assume. He 
made laws for both church and State. He made laws 
to govern families, which would sustain physical life 
and protect man from its vicissitudes, as well as those 
which should govern his religious services. Nothing 
was overlooked or neglected. He measured by rule 
and compass all things, nothing wanting in the arrange- 
ment of both church and State. Do we often in this 
day and generation see such a man and such a law- 
giver? We are told a princess found him in a rush 
basket in the water. He was born of a woman slave, 
and being a male, by the laws of Egypt, was con- 
demned to death. His mother saw that he was comely 
to look upon, her heart yearned for him, and although 
she was a slave, she preferred to preserve his physical 
life, even in bondage, than to see his warm blood 
gurgling out, and his little temple closed. Yet his life 
was saved, and by whom ? By the tender heart of 
woman, and in defiance of the laws of her country. 
She saw bright smiles upon his infant face, and in 
despite of the cold hard law of her nation, her heart 
warmed toward him, she nursed and educated him as 
her own child. Yes, that is the true woman ; as her 
own child, and not as a foundling. Just here I might 
17 



386 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

say to the people of the nineteenth century, look upon 
your orphan asylums, do you educate, feed and clothe 
them as your own children? This damsel might point 
her finger at the Christian matrons of the nineteenth 
century, and cry shame ! Now this very child became 
the leader of what is now termed Jews, then Israelites. 

Was it special Providence which directed this maiden 
to save the child? I ask the churches. 

If so, was it a special Providence which made him 
a refugee from the laws of his own country ? 

Ah, poor, frail humanity is lost in this great sea of 
truth, and when it can go no farther, attributes the 
rest to special Providence. We have had enough of 
this special Providence. We want to direct the mind 
to a higher knowledge, which will open to better aims. 
We want to stimulate man as a human being to con- 
quer his animal propensities, to cherish the higher and 
nobler faculties of his soul, and to see a light which 
will illuminate his whole life. We want to teach him 
to govern his moral nature, and rise above his selfish 
propensities. We want water from the rock of truth 
to flow unto the people of this country, until humanity 
shall quench its thirst from the same great fountain 
as that from which the children of Israel partook. 
We want humanity to hear the same gentle voice as 
Moses heard upon Mount Pisgah, and behold what he 
then saw, as he viewed the promised land. He stood 
there looking over, but did not enter here. How many 
stand upon that same mountain? Who denies the 
fact to-day, that Moses was inspired, assisted and re- 
ceived aid from a power above and beyond man ? Is 
not God always the same ? If so, why should he deny 
to man to-day what he gave to Moses ? See and re- 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 387 

fleet as Moses did, and know what great benefits 
the mind will receive from that same great fountain. 
Yes, let us redeem the Cain. We want to educate 
man in this philosophy, and show him that the same 
power operates now as it did at the time of Moses. 
We want man to fully understand the omnipresent and 
omniscient powers of God existed in all time. He 
has not deserted a single human being. 

He constitutes, upholds and educates ; his laws have 
the same power and influence now as they did at the 
time of Moses. We want to illuminate the truth, and 
cast a shadow over falsehood. As Moses brought the 
children of Israel out of bondage, so we want to bring 
man out of the bondage of ignorance, superstition, 
evil and egotism, and then stand him upon the primi- 
tive soil of universal brotherhood. Man does not know 
how much power he possesses, if it is allowed to remain 
idle and latent. If man cultivates a certain knowl- 
edge, and lets all his ideas run in the same channel, 
he does not develop his mental powers, and knows not 
their capacity. 

We hear of the brain being taxed. It is so only 
when it does not keep its equilibrium, that is, when 
one part is dormant while another is strained. 

When Moses walked out of Egypt, and into the 
primitive forest, his mind was in a good condition to 
reflect. He was acquainted with town life, knew well 
the religion and customs of the Egyptians, and he had 
left them all behind him. In the unbroken forest, 
where man was not, he heard the voice of God. He 
then realized he was not alone. 

Not only the sense of hearing, but also of sight, tes- 
tified that his instructions came from a standpoint 



388 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

higher than man has yet attained. Moses recieved his 
commands mentally and spiritually from the same 
great fountain which influences all creation to-day. 
Then let us not deny ourselves, oh humanity, the pri- 
vilege of partaking of this divine knowledge. It is the 
foundation of civilization, it is the corner-stone of reli- 
gion, and must yet be the temple in which man shall 
live in harmony. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 389 



MYSTERIES. 

January 15, 1875. 

My son, we will try in the first place to explain 
the expression in my last, redeem the Cain. Cain 
was sent out from the face of God, so says the record. 

We want to educate man above crime, and the pro- 
pensities which Cain had. Now, we will look for a 
mystery, or the mysteries of religion which we saw in 
our last. The church has attached great mystery to 
Moses' acts and performances, but which were all done 
according to natural laws. 

In the beginning of the Christian religion we see 
there was many things which where miraculous to the 
uncultivated mind. Men who have hot studied the 
laws of chemistry, and know nothing of philosophy, 
but who follow a plain, simple mode of life, can be 
easily wrought upon by those who have. The scien- 
tist can make an uneducated man believe that this 
very philosophy was a special power granted to him 
by God. Such knowledge always enables the edu- 
cated to control his less fortunate brother. 

We have to take only a slight glance to see how 
limited were the privileges of Christianity in the 
earlier times; in its youth, I might say. It can not 
be proven by any book ever written, that Moses 
claimed any higher or supernatural power, in order to 



390 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

establish the Jewish religion among the children of 
Israel. It was essential for that people that they 
should have some code of morals to govern them. It 
was a symbolic age. The process of using symbols 
was a natural and wise one to govern that immense 
throng. 

This power to govern masses by symbols should pos- 
sess a lesson even for this enlightened age of faith, 
energy, patience and perseverance. Now, let us hunt 
up the curse, that is the special one sent on the race 
previous to the time of Moses, at a time when alle- 
gory and figurative speeches were so prevalent. 

When we reflect that they had no paper and pen, 
and how difficult it was to record even the most essen- 
tial things which concerned the different tribes, we need 
not be surprised at so much being omitted concerning 
the early people, whose acts the Bible gives such an 
imperfect record of. Symbols speak with a silent 
language. The church has attached a great mystery 
to the water gurgling forth from the rock, and to the 
light and cloud which directed the children of Israel 
on their journey. But when the sunlight of intellect 
illuminates a law of nature, either in chemistry, or any 
other department in science, the mystery is gone. No 
longer is there any mystery attached to those things 
by the intelligent mind, it is only those ignorant of 
these laws who clothe them in mystery. So many minds 
are now leading into materialism. Scientific men in- 
vestigate the principles of objects, find out their 
component elements, and class them. The mind then 
begins to grow, what is now called skeptical, that is, 
they begin to feel that there is nothing but materiality. 
We can find out certain effects, but the first great 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 391 

cause has never been explained. Let us look every 
fact straight in the face, and see what mystery is con- 
nected with it. If we study the anatomy of the human 
being, and also that of the serpent, we can find noth- 
ing in common in their organizations that would lead 
us for a moment to suppose that a snake ever had the 
organs of speeeh, or could ever have talked. Yet this 
snake, or some similar being is set up as an equal or a 
superior to the first great cause. Accordingly, a great 
mystery must be attached to this powerful being. 
Everyybody knows that eternal punishment was once 
the foundation of faith in all the churches. T is said that 
man trespassed upon the laws laid down for him, and 
this was brought about by the influence of an opposite 
power or spirit from the first great cause. If we go 
back to the earliest period, we will find out from whence 
came these symbols and allegories. They were known 
before Moses' time in Egypt, too far back to date the 
beginning of them to be only six thousand years. All 
scholars who have studied mythology, know that the 
serpent was used symbolically to portray the crafty 
nature of man, and it was not applied to any living 
form or spirit. The crafty nature of man was like the 
serpent. There is something in man's nature exceed- 
ingly subtile and very powerful for evil, and when 
excited it overcomes his moral propensities. It requires 
but little study to find out that this creation is all a 
myth. Now, in this age, the serpent is held up as a 
special creation, and it is done by those who claim to 
be teachers of the people. 

They attach great mystery to this serpent who was 
permitted to entice woman to sin by the simple process 
of eating an apple from the tree set in the midst of 



392 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

the garden of Eden. What is the garden of Eden? 
Here is another mystery for man to solve. When we 
go back to Egyptian mythology, we find the serpent 
symboled in their language. Garden of Eden, when 
correctly defined, means to bring forth, to grow. 
Hence the mind of man is a garden, which brings 
forth both good and evil fruit. Bad, if his animal pro- 
pensities predominate, and good, if he follows the better 
impulses of his heart; hence we find good and evil in 
our own breast. The allegory is beautiful, and had an 
effect for good on that people. 

It taught them to beware of indulgence in hypocrit- 
ical manners and deceitfulness toward one another. 
We see now a great mystery is attached to it. It has 
been used to subjugate man as they did with cudgels 
by which they mauled men's brains. It is brought 
down to subjugate man, and fill his mind with dark 
fears, and dread of torture hereafter. Endless pun- 
ishment! that is also wrapped in mystery. Man has 
failed to localize the place of torture, notwithstanding 
this generation has been taught so much about locality. 
Scientists say there never was a beginning, and for 
my part as long as I have been here, I have not yet 
a thought about a beginning. I know one fact, and 
it is this, that we are not concerned about the begin- 
ning nor the end, but we are to fulfill our duty in our 
own time. History gives us a record of the past, but 
it is not truthful. 

We must cultivate our minds and our better nature, 
in order to be able to judge what is best, and then 
govern our actions accordingly. There is a principle in 
nature above material form, and in it, which no man 
can deny, and the sooner the world understands this 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 393 

principle, the better for humanity, and for the churches. 
Let us not grow selfish in our wisdom, nor egotistical 
in our knowledge. Let us have a sincere devotion to 
right and to our brother man, and all that is good, 
high and noble in those laws which have held this 
world in mystery so long, we will develop and use. 
We want the world to get rid of the .idea that God 
was thwarted by any being in the shape of a serpent, 
or any other form, or that woman was allowed to follow 
his instructions, and by eating an apple brought death 
upon all humanity afterward. 

We must get rid of the idea that God's purposes or 
plans were ever frustrated. It is the first stumbling- 
block to man. There is great error in the premises, 
when we believe man was cursed. 

God is all-powerful, and could not be defeated, or 
thwarted by an offspring of his own power. All things 
that were created and are in operation to-day, are as 
God intended them. It could not be otherwise from 
the working of intelligent laws. Those laws were in 
perfect harmony in the early days, when man first re- 
ceived the idea that he was good and evil. We have 
not yet learned at what period that was when man 
first found out that he was both good and bad. It 
was one of his earliest reflections, and from it he 
shaped his laws. 

The record says, Cain was an outcast from God, 
but we know he could not be an outcast from God, 
for God is omnipresent. We must give all due charity 
to those early writers, for they did not understand 
God as we do. They held him as a finite being, and 
so must we when we claim to comprehend him, for 
we in spirit state even can not comprehend infinity. 
17* 



394 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

All along the road of the past we see the spirituality 
of man, although it was not as well developed as at 
the present time. We now see a knowledge of spir- 
itual nature highly developed, and a living intelligence 
recognized as capable of assisting man, instructing 
him in his duty, and directing him in the every day 
affairs of life. , As the Jewish church grew powerful 
and rich, the priests took this knowledge of spiritual 
communion out of the hands of the people. The king 
sent out edicts against prophets and seers, which was 
not as unreasonable as that man should now deny 
himself the right and privilege of studying and reas- 
oning about those things. All along the early times, 
man with his selfish nature controlled the church, and 
that which was at one time the birthright of the 
people, was made a mystery by the church to hold 
mankind in subjection to priest and king, although 
we often see those two powers antagonistical. Saul 
was not a Christian, but according to Jewish testimony, 
he sought knowledge from one of the seers of his age, 
and that too after his having affixed a heavy penalty 
to deal in necromancy, that is, to talk with the dead. 
We might quote many of the prophecies in proof that 
there was at that age as much antagonism to this 
same phenomena as there is to-day. I will refer to 
one case, which is not extraordinary, namely, where 
Saul counselled with the woman of Endor. He went 
to see her, to consult with Samuel, a learned friend 
of his. 

The woman did not know Saul, until told so by 
Samuel, when she became afraid. Samuel's prophecy 
concerning the king was soon verified. 

This history is proof beyond cavil, that the people 






ANGELS MESSAGES. 395 

of that day and age knew and believed they could 
talk with the dead. The woman was not astonished 
that any one should come to consult her, but was 
alarmed when she learned it was the king. 

This phenomena was a natural law at that time, 
and it is so to-day, although it is made a mystery. It 
is not so to you, although its philosophy has not yet 
been fully explained. 

Samuel was a man of God, a priest in favor with 
the people, and it was him who had anointed with his 
own hands, Saul as king. We also learn, that when 
Saul became powerful, he was like Americans in 
office to-day, he grew wicked, and deceived the very 
person who had made him king. 

This is an interesting history, and should not be 
touched lightly. The corner-stone of all religion is 
truth, and if we accept the facts recorded, then Samuel 
anointed Saul as king, which fact was of sufficient im- 
portance to be brought down to us to-day. However 
important that fact may be, the fact that Samuel com- 
municated with Saul, and by him was recognized, is 
much more essential to science and religion. Samuel 
says, "why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up?" 
Now, it is natural that Samuel should have been dis- 
quieted, for he was on the eve of giving a painful 
message to Saul, and say to him, that he should be 
with him the next day. To tell Saul of his manner 
of death was indeed painful to that pure spirit, who 
well remembered his early friendship for the king, and 
devotion to his cause. He was pained to* foresee the 
dreadful end that was coming to that terrible king, 
yet he said to him, thou and thy sons shall be together 
with me. Samuel was a good man, a prophet dedi- 



396 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

cated to God before he was born, and raised in the 
service of God in a priest's house. He said to Saul 
that he should be with him. With my experience in 
spirit land, I look upon this natural law as one of 
the most beautiful, which permitted the hand that 
anointed Saul king, to be reached forth, and welcome 
him to another condition. I will not say whether that 
condition was higher or lower than a king, but will 
say, it is always according to man's moral standing, 
whether it will be better here or not. Now, is there 
any mystery in that ? We must get rid of mysteries, 
not by shutting our eyes, but by opening our minds, 
accepting facts, nnd studying them carefully, until we 
understand them thoroughly. If we have not the 
means and time to do that now, let us wait until we 
find time, or some one who has had the higher privi- 
leges to learn and comprehend them, and who can and 
will teach them to us. Then we will find that which 
was a mystery to us before, only a beautiful and use- 
ful law or fact. 

If we go into the garden, we see many different 
plants springing from the same soil, warmed by the 
same sun, and refreshed by the same showers, yet va- 
ried in form color and foliage. Let us not feel that 
even this is a mystery, but that we are not capable 
of understanding this law of the great lawgiver and 
maker of all. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 397 



WAR AND BOASTING. 

January 22, 1874.— S. 

My son, for me to speak to you to-day is the best 
we can do, which is what we all ought to do at all 
times. The light sometimes comes dimly, yet it shows 
us the outlines of objects. We will still follow man 
in his mysterious meanderings through life. We see 
little hills, one higher than another, so with the 
minds and intellect of men. 

Looking over the past and through the musty 
records of the ancients, we see that all nations have 
striven to elevate man higher and still higher. In 
the nineteenth century, we can not claim any more 
important discoveries and facts to benefit humanity, 
than at any other period. 'T is true we have applied 
many important facts which have long existed, but 
we must remember that the present generation has 
had the light of all preceding ones. Every genera- 
tion has the advantage of gaining knowledge over all 
those who have gone before it. 

Had man the power to stand upon the loftiest 
eminence of earth and take a bird's eye view of all 
the civilized nations of the earth, and had he also the 
sublime faculty of penetrating into the thoughts of 
every statesman, who has controlled the destiny of 
these nations, he might pause and ask, has man, with 



398 ANGELS MESSAGES, 

all his knowledge of the past learned enough, or has 
his mind the capacity to understand what is written 
of the powers of nature on that great scroll, and 
unrolled for man to read? With all man's advance- 
ment in knowledge and all his attainments, we see 
him yet with a propensity for war. This barbaric 
principle in man is not yet dead, it still lives in him 
and is yet unsubdued. Here is work for church and 
the philanthropist. 

Let no great mind, no philanthropic individual 
cavil at the weapon he must use to subjugate this 
savage monster, who destroys so many lives, brings so 
much misery and poverty upon the human family, 
and involves them in crime and debt. When man 
shall fully subdue this barbarous animal, who lives 
in himself and who knows no pleasure outside of 
human slaughter, or a constant broil with some other 
power, he will then have taken one step toward good. 
Every king and potentate of earth should reflect that 
this planet was not created especially for him, but 
came in under a sublime law. One has said, if each 
played a part, he should play it well. 

Let the king then not leave his tracks stained with 
blood from the time he comes into power until his 
eyes are closed in death. Man is inclined to boast a 
great deal. He does it often without reflection, from 
habit and hearing others. If we take every history 
written and all the testimony left, we find that every 
nation has been in a continual broil and constant war, 
save for a short time. When we look over the 
habitable globe and see so much to do, to enjoy and 
to make every human being happy, it is a great 
wonder how man can ever find time for war. Now 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 399 

this propensity for strife and bloodshed is what we 
have come to subjugate. 

This is the great object the church and Christianity 
should have. It should be the object of all law- 
makers on earth to elevate man, to protect him, and 
give him harmony and peace. Now this great boast- 
ing of what Christianity has done, is not religion, 
nor has such boasting ever benefitted mankind. 

Man must go steadily forward, quietly, yet reso- 
lutely, to cultivate and educate the different races of 
men above the idea of war. One man studies medi- 
cine to heal the sick, another music and harmony to 
give pleasure to humanity. We also have great law- 
schools to educate man in what is termed law and 
the codes of his country. 

To make him competent, he must understand some- 
thing of the laws of other countries. Now man 
should not study law merely to say he is a lawyer, 
but in order to find something in that law to elevate 
humanity. No man should be proud of any title, or 
of titled honor which may be attached to his name, 
because he has studied law. No, he should rather be 
proud of the good he can do himself and others by 
the knowledge which he has obtained. It should not 
be man's governing motive to possess a knowledge, 
in order that he may contend with some one else. 
This contention begins in families and goes out into 
States and countries. It destroys innocence, virtue 
and honesty. It grows to be a selfish monster, and 
with its pride and ambition, seeks to hold in sub- 
jection the weaker portion of mankind. Man should 
seek to do good and not evil by his education and 
knowledge, and that which is not beneficial, is not 



400 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

education. Man must rise above all really selfish 
motives and never lose sight of noble acts. Yes, he 
must be above the low selfish nature which actuates 
the lowest order of animals. 

But when he does this, then the church comes in 
and claims this man for a Christian. Let us follow 
the so-called Christian and see if he is above a mean 
act. Has he got rid of arrogance ? If not, his posi- 
tion has only inflated his pride and self-conceit. To 
make good men and women, each one must know 
what he himself is, what are his own propensities, 
and no man can improve until he fully understands 
that he needs improvement. 

Man must grow above the selfish idea that one 
half of his brothers are to burn in hell, while he 
himself is to bask in the sunlight of happiness. 

Now, what is the difference between a materialist 
and one who- believes that all who are outside of the 
church sinks into hell? The materialist thinks, that 
when he dies and goes into the earth, he will go to 
support vegetation, and so he does to a certain extent. 
The church in a dogmatic manner asserts, that on 
account of Eve's sin a terrible hell was opened to 
swallow every unfortunate man who does not receive 
baptism, the Lord's supper and believe with his whole 
heart in the atonement of Christ. Now each church 
has a creed or certain formula, which every one is 
required to believe in order to be saved in heaven. 
Now, is man so selfish as to be willing that his less 
fortunate brother, who was educated differently from 
himself, and who does not accept his creed, should be 
cast off into outer darkness. Yet so it seems, for he 
goes quietly to his banking-house to look after his 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 401 

millions, then returns to his home in an elegant car- 
riage, lounges in his luxurious apartments and takes 
his comfort without giving one thought to those out- 
side of his own church, or away from his wealth. 

Yes, and this man also expects perpetual happiness 
in his own selfish heaven, when he ceases to live upon 
earth. The world is filled with such men, and when 
I look at them, I see in them nothing better than a 
roaring lion, or some other terrible beast of prey. 
What has this man done to deserve so much comfort ? 
We find many thousands in this beautiful land of 
America pampered in wealth and luxury, going easily 
along and accepting all the sacraments of the church. 

How many others look upon such a man and think 
how much he has been favored by fortune and how 
prosperous he is, but I hope it will not damn him as 
it did poor Dives. 

I think he could find something better to do than 
count money, and something more noble than a dead 
faith to believe. If the bugle should sound for war, 
that very man, who has been so prosperous, would talk 
as loud as if he had been cheated and defrauded. 
He would go out into the street and public places 
and encourage youths, yes, beardless boys to enlist in 
the army. He would drag them from home and from 
their mother's influence. He would excite them 
until they would shoulder a gun and go forth to fight 
for honor. He talks so fluently to them, that the 
poor boy believes it would be a great honor to 
shoulder a gun and get killed. That man never stops 
to ask if that youth belongs to the church and has 
a belief in his own selfish heaven, nor does he strive 
for one moment to find a better place for him than 



402 ANGELS MESSAGES. 

to serve as a target for an enemy's bullet. This may- 
seem tame to you, but it is the practical experience 
of the age, and should be presented to the minds of 
men, to give them some proper food for reflection. 

It is time the people of America should be awak- 
ened to a true principle of honor and justice. I say 
it with the best feelings to my brothers of this country, 
" depend more upon yourselves individually, and trust 
less to the few in power." In order to be prosperous 
and happy, we must have a reasonable religion, and 
there is but one. A true religion purifies the heart 
and affections, takes away the heavy sin of selfish- 
ness and illuminates the soul with a strong and holy 
purpose, to do good and right under all circumstances. 
Let not man cavil too much about mysteries, but 
take hold of practical life and lift himself out of the 
miasma that is swallowing him up every day. Let 
him not be. led by false philosophies, or an ignes-fatui, 
as we hear of in some dreary swamp. There is too 
much show and gewgaw in America to-day and not 
enough reality. We want to begin at once and bring 
out that fine intelligent man, not a wild beast of prey 
to destroy his brother man. We are constantly hearing 
of freedom for the black race. They think they are free 
since the war, and are no longer subject to their master. 

But instead of him, they find a harder one of nature, 
an appetite when they have no food, and coldness when 
they have no fire nor clothes. We should be more 
careful in the language we use, and not that which 
misleads, words which express that which man has not 
yet realized. The negro must still have a shelter and be 
clothed, therefore, in his present condition I pity him. 
He is yet in his infancy, and will be for a long time. 



ANGELS MESSAGES. 403 

Let not one party make a cudgel of him to beat to 

death the other. Let them not tear him asunder, 

that they may step to power upon his dead carcass. 

When he was freed from his Southern master, how 

much better it would have been for him to have said, 

"go and labor and you shall have all you earn/' but 

instead of that, they gave him the ballot. Instead of 

his filling his mind with some practical knowledge, 

he has been taught citizenship, owning land, buying 

and selling, braggadocio, marrying with a license, 

until the poor negro is almost crazed. He has thus lost 

all desire to labor in the field to cultivate corn, cotton 

and potatoes. He thinks by voting, preaching, going 

to school, suing and being sued, he can make a living. 

He is a poor child, alien from his own home and in 

a strange land. It would be well for all those with 

so much pride and boasting, to beware and take care 

of those beneath them. 



INDEX. 405 



INDEX. 



A Class, 89 

Advice to Mr. W., 306 

A Failure, 106 

A Heartsease, 162 

All Travel the same Road, 259 

Angels 33 

Anger, 125 

A Prayer, 31 

Beautiful Shore, 279 

Blindness, 79 

Cause of Crime, 197 

Censure, 154 

Christ, 288 

Creeds, Stumbling-blocks, 331 

Crossing the River, 82 

Death, 247 

Death, 314 

Deity, 52 

Democratic Victory, 355 

Dress, 224 

Faith, 365 

False Religion, 238 



406 INDEX. 

Fire and Water, 328 

Forming a Class, Ill 

Freedom, 185 

Friendship, 49 

Governing and Governed, 219 

Governments, 176 

Heaven, 64 

Hope, 204 

Inhabitants, 109 

Jerusalem and Christ, 91 

Justice, 150 

Letter, 174 

Love's Chamber, 148 

Malice, 172 

Man Speaks, although he be Dead, 272 

Man without Immortality, 39 

Marriage, 324 

Materialization, - 377 

Mediator,.. 298 

Metaphysics, 263 

Metaphysics, 307 

Mind, 62 

Monuments, 349 

Morphine, 251 

Moses, 383 

Mysteries, 389 

No Change in Death, 256 

No Christian Country, 164 

Old Governments and Old Creeds, 166 

On the Mountain, 87 

Our Associations, 107 

Our Family, 12 

Parting Blessing, 235 



INDEX. 407 

Philosophy of Government, 142 

Political Economy, 342 

Popular Scandal, 334 

Prayer at Forming a Class, 115 

Prayer for Light, 50 

Progressive Life, 137 

Pursue the Path of Right, 215 

Reception 131 

Religious Wars, - 101 

Rewards 135 

Right and Custom, 320 

Right Hand of God, 282 

Schools, 120 

Serpent Intellect, 183 

Sinfulness, 73 

Slander, 159 

Social Reform, 191 

Spirit Communion, 371 

Spirit Homes, 127 

Spirits' Return, 25 

St. John's Vision, 207 

St. Valentine, 230 

Thanks, 133 

The Apple, 85 

The Church, 37 

The Cross, 59 

The Eagle and the Mouse, 211 

The Inner Man, 43 

The Narrow Bridge, 123 

The Prodigal Son 35 

The Serpent, 54 

The Temple, 54 

To a Drunkard, 30 



408 INDEX. 

Trip to a Planet, 7 

Visit to Two Planets, 19 

War and Boasting, 397 

Weary Waiting, 81 

Yellow Fever, 157 



